Seulgi recalls the way she’d seen the star fall so long ago, its rays shooting across the sky as if in slow motion, its blue sheen reflecting across the glass she'd been pressing her hand upon. Her heart pounds in her ears as it whizzes by, and Seulgi couldn't help herself but stand on her tiptoes, pushing aside the windowpane as wide as it can open, reaching out, trying to touch the abyss.

She wouldn’t be satisfied, she'd realized, until she'd managed to plunge her hand through that simmering pool of stars, dip her hand into its depths, gather its secrets in her palm and keep them for herself.

Perhaps if she reaches higher; up, up, up.

(But then her fingertips only brushed against the wisps of the clouds, and Seulgi ended up rocking back on her heels, lowering herself to the ground once more).

Still, her days are treacherously, painfully boring.

You'd think being the princess of a nation would be a big more interesting, yes? Not when you have virtually no claim to the throne and your father seems to be keen on keeping you locked up in this cage of a castle before marrying you off to some neighboring kingdom's prince as some form of a peace treaty.

Seulgi's pretty sure that any peace treaty involving her and some male is a bad idea regardless, but it’s not like her father cares much about that.

Nevertheless, Seulgi holes herself up in the castle observatory, knees up to her chest as she sits sprawled on the floor. Around her, dozens upon dozens of star maps litter the ground, and as she earnestly does her best to learn every constellation, each alignment of ever star in the ocean of the night sky. Anything to take her mind off of the interesting day, followed by that awful dinner, that had just occurred.

No one had warned her that Prince Taeyong of Encity would be visiting them for a day, and yet there he was.

No one had warned her that he would understand her like no other either.

“I don't like men in that way,” Seulgi had stated bluntly that afternoon as she had sat with him on a marble garden bench, both of them on as close to the edge of the seating as possible. “As in, I'm not interested in anyone of your gender whatsoever, despite my father's best efforts.”

She hadn't been expecting his answer at all.

“Trust me, Princess, I don't like women in that way either,” he'd flashed her a weary, worn smile. “I do, however, view men a bit differently than you. Care to trade places?”

Seulgi had barked out a laugh.

“Crown Prince, how you make me laugh! I've been wishing for just that every night. Unfortunately, no matter how many stars I wish upon, I still wake up every day just as trapped as the prior.”

Taeyong had nodded. “I see… I suppose I'm not enough of a dreamer, I would just wish for stars in general.”

“Perhaps I should try that,” Seulgi mused aloud, and Taeyong had sent her an encouraging smile before getting up and bidding her farewell without another word, waving to one of his servants who had been lingering nearby, not close enough to overhear but close enough.

During dinner Seulgi had gotten a good earful from her father though, berating her for driving Prince Taeyong away and discouraging him from accepting the marriage proposal.

The princess, of course, hadn’t cared much at all— she’s had more than enough of obeying her father for a lifetime. And she knew, for a fact, that Prince Taeyong had not been interested in the prospect of marriage either, and that he’d merely been entertaining the idea for her father.

Nevertheless, as she splays her legs haphazardly across the wooden floor, studying map after map before occasionally staring up through the glass ceiling of the observatory, she waits for another flash of light across the sky in its wide glory.

She’d take Taeyong’s advice tonight— she’d wish for a star of her own, one that would simply be there. For her.

It’s midnight when she sees a bright light streak across the nighttime abyss from the corner of her eye— she’s never seen a shooting star so bright.

Seulgi races to the window, pushes her palms against the glass, moving aside the windowpane. She reaches out to that bright, bright light, entranced—

She can’t think of the words, all coherent thought has left her, but—

“Please,” she whispers.

That’s all it takes for the light to come rushing at her.

It crashes through the glass, shattering the windows and glass ceiling into sparkling little crystals, shimmering around Seulgi as she stands in shock. Then something hits her chest, wraps its arms around her waist, and she registers the all-consuming warmth that surrounds her body.

A body now presses flush against hers, a head resting against the crook of her neck, and Seulgi realizes that they’re trapped in an embrace – her and this new presence – but she thinks that she’s never felt more at home.

“Who are you?” Seulgi whispers breathlessly, hands coming up to rest on the slightly smaller person’s waist.

The head laying on her shoulder lifts, pulling back slightly to look Seulgi in the eyes, and the princess feels her heartbeat start ringing in her ears.

Oh, she’s breathtaking.

“Irene,” the star-child whispers, as if in awe of Seulgi, as if she’s not the one who just crashed threw Seulgi’s windows and broke through the boundaries. “I’m Irene… and you’re Seulgi. I’ve been… waiting for you to call me for a while now.”

Seulgi furrows her brow, a pang shooting through her heart at the thought of Irene having to wait for her.

“Waiting? For how long?”

Irene shakes her head, a tender smile on her face. “That’s a question for another time.”

Seulgi hesitates.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Irene nods, puffing her cheek out, and there’s a fluttering motion around them.

It’s only then that Seulgi takes notice of the pair of pure white wings that protrude from Irene’s back, soft feathers ruffled in current agitation, probably because Irene had been worried for her— Seulgi’s usually never one to assume, but she feels the connection coursing through them, linking them together.

“I can take you away from here,” Irene murmurs upon realizing that the princess had been staring. The star-child’s grip on Seulgi’s sleeves tighten, and Seulgi gets the feeling that Irene knows much more than what Seulgi could ever tell her with words. “I can take you far, far away. We…” Irene pausing thinking of the words. “I know that you aren’t guaranteed to trust me, not so willingly… but you’re my Someone… and I know for a fact that I would be happy anywhere, so long as I’m with you.”

“Even if you’re not in the sky?” Seulgi asks.

Irene nods, nothing but truth in her eyes.

“The sky brings me nothing in comparison to the freedom you let me feel, Seulgi.”

“Then shall we leave to see what the dawn brings?”

Seulgi vaguely registers the commotion coming from the bottom of the observation tower— the rioting of the soldiers, the angry voice of the king, the concerned tone of her mother, the queen. Right now, there’s nothing other than Irene, nothing matters other than Irene.

And Irene beams.

“Then let us fly, princess!”