A cool breath of wind tousled Minho’s hair as he propped himself up on his elbow. He took a sip of his now, unfortunately, lukewarm coffee. He scrunched up his nose and twisted the paper sleeve around the cup as he struggled to swallow.

Olympic Park was quiet tonight. The only sounds were the gentle lapping of waves on the shore of the pond just a few meters away and the ever-present hum of the cicadas in the trees.

“This is nice.” Minho glanced over his shoulder to find a smiling Jinki, his eyes closed as he let out a long sigh. “Isn’t it?” he asked, opening one eye to look at him.

“Yeah.” Minho set his coffee to the side before leaning back to join Jinki on the ground again. Their shoulders brushed as Minho settled into his spot on the grass. “Reminds me of pre-debut.”

He did not think he would ever be able to forget the night they had met. Even now, he could not remember a time where he had been more terrified – except for, perhaps, SHINee’s initial audition or their very first concert.

Minho was out of bed past curfew on the hunt for a midnight snack of ramyeon. If he were caught, he could be kicked out of the dorms with his dreams thoroughly and utterly crushed. His hunger outweighed his common sense that night as he crept along the wall of the dark hallway that he thought might lead to the cafeteria. His outstretched hand brushed against soft fabric and warm skin, and he recoiled with a stifled yelp.

“Who’s that?” came a strained, high-pitched whisper.

“M-me…Minho.” He pressed his hand over his rapidly beating heart in an attempt to calm down. “Choi Minho.”

The stranger slumped against the wall, sighing. “I thought it might be a supervisor.”

“Sorry for scaring you,” he said, bowing slightly toward where he thought the stranger might be.

“I’m Lee Jinki, by the way,” he said. Minho sifted through the many faces of the fellow trainees in his mind’s eye, trying to find Jinki. He jumped when Jinki’s hand grabbed his forearm. “Follow me.” He led Minho up to the roof of the dorms, letting go of his arm once the door closed behind them. “I’ve been doing this for months now.”

“Doing what?” He trailed behind Jinki to the far wall around the roof of the dorms and followed Jinki’s lead as he sat with his back to the wall. Minho combed his fingers through his hair as he stared up at the red-tinged night sky. A few stars twinkled past the light pollution of Seoul.

I come out here when I can’t sleep.”

Minho smiled when Jinki started humming. “Star-gazing is relaxing,” he said, leaning his head back against the wall.

Jinki snorted. “Yeah, well, it’d be even better if we weren’t in the city.”

“True.”

It became a sort of tradition for them, then. Every Saturday night they met in the stairwell that led up to the roof to talk – about their training or their families or whatever was bothering them. Or they would just enjoy the silence as they stared up at the stars.

It was peaceful then, and it was peaceful now. Jinki sighed beside him, and Minho turned his head to look at his friend. “It’s a shame that we’re in the city. We can’t even see all of Orion’s Belt,” he said, pointing up at two of the stars off to the right. Minho stared at them until they winked out of existence.

He snorted to himself, glancing over at Jinki before looking back up at the sky. “That’s all right. The stars in your eyes make up for it.”

There were a few seconds where only the cicadas could be heard, but then, Jinki started to laugh. Minho grinned, covering his reddening face with his hands.

“That was so cheesy, oh my god!”

“Just shut up,” Minho said, grimacing behind his hands. “No,” Jinki said as he ruffled Minho’s hair. “It’s cute.” He lowered his hands, sighing as Jinki patted his head. “And sweet.”

Wind rustled through the leaves, silencing the cicadas momentarily. He shivered as a chill washed over him and he clenched his jaw so his teeth would not chatter. Stealthily, he reached for his phone in his pocket and slipped it out, clicking the home button to display the time.

2:36 AM.

“I saw that,” Jinki said, smirking.

Minho shifted on the ground, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “We’ve got a busy day tomorrow,” he said, moving to sit up. “We should head back.”

Jinki patted the grass, and Minho glanced down at him. “Soon. But not yet.”

“Okay.” Smiling, Minho lay back down beside him.