Sukyi’s POV

            I felt a gentle bump against my rested elbow as my eyes drew a trail of stars in the night sky. Hyeyeong grabbed a seat beside me along the windowsill. I adored how quiet her house was at night and how I could let my thoughts peacefully wander. Back in America, we rarely had any silence. I wasn’t sure if it was my mom’s paranoia that bad things happened when it got quiet, but she always left both the television and radio on whenever she was home, and her voice grew accustomed to the loud tones she’d use to call out to me from downstairs to overpower all the other noise. To be honest, it really felt like my life was deprived of silence and here at Hyeyeong’s place, I could finally savour it. I was a little thankful that she didn’t break it by speaking to me just yet, because I wanted to have a longer moment to dwell in my mind.

            Hyeyeong breathed heavily against the cold glass, creating a moist fog on the windowpane which she wrote on with her index finger. “뭐해? (What’s up?)” it read, and then she receded her hand and rested her cheek on her forearm with a light yawn. It was already a few hours past midnight and I was a little surprised as to why I wasn’t tired as well.

            “Star gazing,” I replied with a hoarse voice. I hadn’t spoken since I took a shower after getting back so my throat was infested with phlegm.

            “Star gazing… I never really tried it before.” Hyeyeong replied with her sleepy voice. She never spoke this softly to me before, but I guess her sleepiness was starting to take over. I pointed out a distinct set of stars in the sky, trying to angle my fingers so that she could follow where I was pointing and explained,

            “If you connect these stars together, you get Ursa Major.” She seemed amused as she eyed how my fingers drew the constellation roughly, and then she tried to sketch it herself.

            “Ursa Major... that’s the big dipper right? I always felt stupid in elementary for not knowing what it looked it.” She admitted a little embarrassed, but she was clearly fascinated with her new found knowledge.

            “Do you know any others?” She was curious, but I could tell she was only half paying attention. I was thinking of what other easy-to-spot constellation there was, but before I could name any, she asked another question.

            “What’s that star right there? Do you know?” Her left index pointed to the brightest star there was, illuminating the dark sky with its heavenly glow. It was my favourite one because it shone the brightest amidst the cloudiest nights, but I also had the most trouble remembering its name.

            “The brightest star in the sky…” I mumbled, trying extremely hard to remember, “Polaris!” She smiled and nodded, gazing at it in awe. Her eyes reminded me of someone familiar, yet I couldn’t remember who. It made me wonder why I was so into star gazing. Where we lived in America, the beauty of the night sky could never fully be appreciated as it was always overwhelmed by the blaring night attractions that seemed to scare the stars away from sight every single night. I always felt disappointed and a little depressed living in San Diego, as if a part of me was missing. Though I was a little homesick and thought often about how worried my mother must be, I felt a little more confident about who I was after returning to Seoul. What more did my home town have to teach me?

            “Sukyi, you enjoy yourself, I’m heading off first.” She parted with a long yawn, followed by the sound of a door closing shut. When it was night, I didn’t like to pay attention to time. I could sit here and admire the sky’s beauty until the sun rose without knowing so much time had passed, but I knew I would regret it in the morning if I sleep through all my lectures. With a sigh, I unwilling pulled myself away from the window, and it really felt as if I was parting ways with a long lost friend once again only to wait an eternity until we met again. Truthfully, I knew I got to reminisce like this every night, but the duration of waiting I had to do during each day seemed too much.

Yoseob’s POV

            Sukyi and I left the lecture hall together, though I couldn’t understand why she seemed so down. Was she really so disappointed that our lecture got cancelled? I felt a little excited because we had almost two hours to waste, but maybe her being the keener didn’t like the idea of wasting time. She reminded me a lot of Hyeyeong, yet in many ways they weren’t the least bit alike.

            “Are you hungry?” I asked her, walking beside her awkwardly. Perhaps I was the only one who felt the silence was becoming awkward and suddenly I wished Hyeyeong was here to cure the silence with her random outbursts. Sadly, she was still stuck in stats or econ and I knew she wouldn’t skip class for the likes of me.

            “Are you?” She asked back, avoiding my question. I nodded, thinking that if we grabbed a bite to eat at least we’d have food as an excuse for the quiet. I never really met anyone so introverted since Donghae before, and the only reason I don’t mind him is because we’ve been ‘brothers’ for as long as I could remember. That’s it! Sukyi reminded me of Donghae hyung, and after putting the pieces together there was no doubt about it. Though I didn’t know him long enough to have ever met his deceased sister, he’s spoken about her to me so many times that it felt as if I’d known her all my life too. The beloved dongsaeng was what they referred to her as around me. Her name was too painful to ever bring up, and every time I tried to sympathize I would think that they were just too pitiful. After we bought our food, we took a seat at an outdoor picnic table to eat. The weather was in the transitional phase between autumn and winter; not too chilly but cold enough that all the bugs are either dead or hiding. Thank goodness for that because I can’t stand bugs at all.

            The entire time we were eating, Sukyi did not look like she was going to make any attempt to speak. Her eyes looked in my direction, but she wasn’t looking at me, rather, she was looking beyond what was right in front of her. To most, it would probably seem kind of creepy and mysterious, but it made me wonder what went on in her head. Perhaps she’d be like Donghae whose mind was silently brewing intelligence though he spoke so little.

            “Lost in thought?” I questioned, poking her forehead playfully. She snapped out of her trance and shook her head a little, giving her fries a disappointed stare. All her food cooled down while she was thinking, but she started eating anyway.

            “Sorry, I uhm… I’m not really good at talking…” She slowly admitted, shying away from my stare. I’d be an idiot if I hadn’t figured that out sooner, but I felt a little honoured that she would tell me that. When people shared insecurities with each other it meant they were close, right? I remembered when I bumped into her and Hyeyeong the other day, the day of the memorial and Sukyi’s eyes were locked on Donghae hyung. This “love at first sight” concept seemed bogus to me, but if she was interested in him then at least we’d have someone to talk about.

            “Have you ever met Donghae hyung before?” I asked suddenly—a bit too suddenly. Her eyes widened and I took it as a sign that she was interested.

            “Not really formally…” She sighed out of disappointment, “He left in a rush the other day.” She was referring to the Memorial Day when Donghae had nothing greater on his mind than his family.

            “He was so in grief that day…” She mumbled quietly, though I could still hear her, “It almost forces one to feel bad for him.” She herself seemed ten times more depressed after bringing him up, but she must have examined his face quite thoroughly that day to notice because I was almost certain Hyeyeong didn’t see a change in his behavior.

            “It was the day of his sister’s memorial.” I blurted, immediately feeling regret afterwards. These weren’t my stories to tell, yet I let it leak. I probably brought her curiosity level up quite significantly, because she was staring at me as if telling me to continue. In my mind I hoped that Donghae hyung would forgive me for sharing, but helping him carry the burden was not an easy task.

            “They actually never confirmed that she was dead, but she’s been missing for so many years that the family just assumed so…” 

A/N: I take forever to update now but it's because I've lost inspiration....well it's more like I haven't found an inspirational day to write until now and I've been really busy. Not many people follow up on this fanfic either so I'm not pressured to rush chapters out ^^ I'm going to take my time with this.