If there's anything Dahyun likes to do during the midnight span, it would be stargazing at one AM whilst sitting on the rooftop.

 

It was after the time she allotted to write a new composition for an upcoming play to be held inside her university auditorium. As a well-known music prodigy, her name was the first to pop inside the director's mind in the midst of a process to decide who may compose the original soundtrack for the whole production.

 

Safe to say that it's a little difficult for Dahyun, who never wrote a "tragic yet sincere" music sheet her whole life. Most of her compositions are either ambient or simply provokes tranquility ― frequently categorized in between jovial tunes and melodramatic pieces.

 

When it does get too difficult, the only probable solution is to climb up the ladder and lay on the ceramic rooftop while tracing the visible stars to form unknown constellations with her fingertip. If she can recall, Dahyun's first composition was about the three stars that form Orion's belt; the row of stars that appear almost every night she decides to go out.

 

It's all ideal, really; quiet nights and luminous lights ― she always wished upon a shooting star that the time may come when the night will take over the day (but according to logical and definitely proven science, it's far too absurd.)

 

Dahyun picked up her phone from her pocket to check the time: 1:43 AM. It's late.

 

And so, she sat up, prepared to return down the balcony.

 

"Dahyun?"

 

The former perked her torso from where the speaker stood. There she was; a girl clothed in a sky blue dress made of light fabric, rubbing her eyes so gently signifying that she had just awoken from her slumber.

 

It was Sana, the beautiful girl living next door. She stared upright from her own balcony, whose gap is only a few inches away from Dahyun's. Sana could literally just jump across and land perfectly within Dahyun's residence.

 

"Hey, Sana," Dahyun greets from the rooftop. She lowered her body to communicate with her neighbor with less hassle, her two arms pressed against the surface as her fingers clutch the edge of the roof. "Why are you up this time of the night?"

 

"I should be the one asking you that," Sana responds. She leans to the balcony with her arms crossed, a tired smile evident on her face. "Why are you lounging up there?"

 

"It's nice here. I like it. I can see the stars."

 

"You like the stars?"

 

"I mean, who doesn't?"

 

Sana giggles when Dahyun lied down again, but her chest facing the night sky, which results to the latter doing some dizzy antic with her head hanging off the roof itself. From her view, the whole world seems to be upside down.

 

"You might fall down. You should be careful," Sana half-advised, but the major half is too concerned at how Dahyun seems to be carefree with all of these; the neighbor finds it funny.

 

"Do you wanna come up here?"

 

"What?"

 

"If you're not planning to return to sleep yet, then come up here and sit with me," Dahyun proposed.

 

Even with the unforeseen proposal, Sana doesn't hesitate to push herself up from the boundary and jump across the gap to land on Dahyun's bedroom. She climbs up the ladder when a hand welcomes her from the first five rungs, in which Sana gleefully takes to hold it firmly as she uses the hand to pull herself up the rooftop.

 

"Welcome to my humble abode," Dahyun jokes as she gestures for Sana to take a seat beside her recent position (also known as Dahyun's perfect stance to observe the stars).

 

Sana adjusts her dress as she folds her legs together, already comfortable with the position she's in. "Do you frequently go up here?"

 

"Mhm," Dahyun hums. "When I stay up late to compose, I conclude my day by climbing up here to enjoy the field of stars."

 

"Do you take these experiences as inspirations, then?"

 

"Hard to believe but not really. The only time I wrote a song about the stars is when I had my first year as a college student. I often wrote classical pieces after that."

 

"Don't you think that's ironic for a pianist like you who spends her nighttime routine by watching the stars? I wouldn't pay for a recital if you're going to play Claude Debussy when your heart is actually pouring Capricorn."

 

"You have a bad sense of humor," Dahyun snickers.

 

The night was filled with solitude; it's inevitable for a silent environment like this. A wave of nostalgia rushes when the wind began blowing and the trees' leaves began rustling ― Sana compares the current scenery back to when she still resided in Japan. Cicadas are a thing, and so are fireflies but none of those exist right now.

 

It's only her, the stars, and the soft piano enthusiast, Kim Dahyun.

 

"Then..."

 

"Hm?"

 

"I want you to write a song about the stars. Ambiance, Dahyun. I want to hear it," Sana proposes this time, too focused as to how Dahyun will comply with it.

 

Of course, there's never a day when she didn't hear the sound of fresh melodies resonating from the room across hers. From major keys to minor keys, Sana (somehow) memorized Dahyun's playing. She could visualize the quick retraction of fingers from one key to another ― then a pair of fingers pressing the two keys side by side to sustain the tune of her refrains.

 

It's all too familiar now. Compared to Frédéric Chopin's well-written classics, Dahyun could play freestyle but can still manage to form a solid masterpiece from the haphazard pressing of keys.

 

"That's surprising..." Dahyun trails off. Perhaps trying an old genre wouldn't hurt. "But okay. Since you asked for it, I'll do it."

 

Sana chuckled softly with the shake of her head in embarrassment. Unable to believe that Dahyun actually decided to fulfill her wish, she signals the latter to flatten her legs for the former to lay her head on her lap.

 

Facing the confused pianist from below, Sana whispers, "I'm not asking you to play about stars, I want you to think of them."

 

"I don't get it."

 

"Look." Sana shifts her head to the sky and points to the direction of two twinkling stars held by the sky, side by side. "You can form a Gemini just with those two. I'm giving you some points to take note of, Dahyun."

 

"Elaborate," Dahyun says.

 

Sana lifts her arm to trace the pertained stars with the use of her finger. "You start with one note and play it two times." Then, she traced downwards from the first star and proceeded to go right. "Two times isn't enough, so repeat the same note a couple of times and introduce it as the first verse."

 

"Maintenance," Dahyun remarks. Her eyes follow the path formed by Sana's finger, swallowing the lesson into comprehension to fulfill her initial wish.

 

"If you can hear just that, it sounds too bland for a composition, so we kick it up a notch by lifting the mood." Her finger then goes upward, landing on top of the first star. "Minor keys are vital. Pitch is fundamental. Tempo is necessary."

 

Dahyun laughs, but refrains from moving too much to avoid the loss of comfort for Sana to cozily lay on. "Are you on the verge of 'using synonyms of the same word makes me sound smart' because clearly, you sound too smart for me to understand anything you're saying."

 

"Flow!" Sana snaps. "Create a flow with the refrain built from occasional minor keys, transitioning high pitches, and mid-fast tempo."

 

"Eh? You're being too specific, Sana. I thought you want ambiance? Freeform peace, you know?"

 

"Ambience takes shape when you feel it," Sana quips. She closed her eyes to rest for a while, that until she resumed speaking, "I know ambiance when I hear it. I'm helping you because I want to hear you think about the stars."

 

"I silently took note of all your facets, so stop with the dictatorship," Dahyun teased. "Let me contemplate."

 

Sana is no musical genius like Dahyun is, but if there's one thing she exceeds at, it would be the skill of accurate observation. Each passing day, a new melody ― new information for Sana to digest.

 

It was all Dahyun who taught Sana. From the perfect note sequence to the correct formation of pitch in accordance with tempo, Sana managed to learn all of those with a single composition to be played each day on the opposite room.

 

"When can I hear you play?"

 

Dahyun tilts her head, contemplative with the tight schedule she'll be fulfilling in the following days. "My university will hold a theatre play two days from now. I'm assigned to compose the soundtrack."

 

"You mean you're going to play the song I asked for in a play?"

 

"There's a perfect scene where I can play it. Don't worry, your laws will match that scene very well," Dahyun says with utmost confidence. The sincere look on Sana's face when she said those words attached the assertiveness, so the pianist is really thrilled to compose the song as soon as possible.

 

The stars shining above already gave Dahyun inspiration for the ideal composition. Thanks to Sana who taught her how to do so by tracing a constellation with only two stars in place, Dahyun received a newfound fondness for the stars who sat with her every time in the middle of the night.

 

And another twinkling star lying on her lap.

 

If the night sky really came to this, then Dahyun has no other choice but to adhere. Perhaps, the world is saying the secret formula to the perfect composition through a medium named Minatozaki Sana, the beautiful girl next door.

 

"I'll wait for you," Dahyun blurts. "I should see you in the middle of the audience. You asked for it, you should be the one to hear it."

 

"Of course. Expect me to arrive two hours earlier. I can't wait."

 

It was almost three AM by then. The sky slowly transitions into a lighter shade of purple, signifying that morning will soon arrive as the time progressed.

 

Sana fell asleep on Dahyun's lap, completely comfortable with the position but flips her direction every now and then. The latter, on the other hand, lied down as the view of the sky welcomed her vision. Sleep is a requirement for basic health, but the thought of composing a song dedicated to the night sky (whom she just heard groan in her sleep) is so frustrating.

 

"I want you to think about the stars," she said. How else is Dahyun going to write a song that ambient with too many specifications? Collective and carefree, most of Dahyun's compositions start from scratch with the random pressing of keys until she finally discovers a new tune to fit into one melody.

 

She hears Sana groan again as she turns her body to face Dahyun's direction. Dahyun sits up to adjust her legs, allowing the former to adapt to the stance.

 

When Dahyun says Minatozaki Sana is a beautiful girl next door, believe so. She has never seen a girl sleep so gorgeously before. What a rare view, yet, a pleasant sight.

 

The pianist couldn't even afford to say no. She sighed.

 

"Sana," Dahyun whispers as she leans closer to Sana's soft countenance. "You should sleep in your room."

 

Sana heard Dahyun's advice, but pursued to snuggle into the pianist's stomach; her face practically buried in the light fabric of Dahyun's sweater.

 

"Five more minutes," She heard Sana grumble against her clothing.

 

"It's morning already..."

 

Sana only hums.

 

Assuming that the neighbor won't be waking up soon, Dahyun picks up Sana's recent response ― a hum, to voice a quiet tune of tranquility to encompass the impending day.

 

Her volume was albeit loud for Sana to hear, the invisible texture of the tune was earnest and quite placid ― like a sweet lullaby being hummed to a child in need of slumber.

 

Dahyun's voice was fluid, enough to make the female's (who let the pianist play the role of a pillow) heart melt. Sleepy she was, but the sound of Dahyun's voice woke her up with a bolt.

 

However, she didn't let Dahyun know (hopefully).

 

She simply stayed in place, burying her face further when she maneuvers her arms around Dahyun's waist as if the sweet hums weren't enough to keep her in quietude for the rest of the day.

 

Dahyun's voice fades away like a disappearing contrail when her sudden tune concluded with the last note.

 

Sana slightly pulls her face away to face Dahyun, but her cheek remains pushed against the sweater. "Why did you stop?" she asks, hoarsely.

 

"Do you want me to continue?"

 

"Yes, please," Sana answers with confidence. She returns her face back to the clothing when she adds, "You're getting it."

 

"Am I?"

 

"Sleep is kicking in more than usual."

 

"Oh."

 

Dahyun resumes her session, lulling Sana further into sleep.

 

There's irony in the way Sana said that she was getting it. Dahyun noticed the absence of her maintenance ― the two notes Sana began with.

 

She tries to fit it in. Faking a cough, Dahyun restarts with a different tune. She starts off with the maintenance of two notes as she visualized the keys being pressed. The pitch of her voice is low; Dahyun hopes that it's what Sana intends.

 

Then, Dahyun continues to obey Sana's demands. The flow of her voice slightly disrupting ― a bit too complicated to resonate as a hum; her voice cracked.

 

Unable to follow the first set of demands, Dahyun skips to the refrain in hopes that she can get it right this time. Sana is listening, Dahyun knows, and she's not going to let Sana down.

 

Her voice comes out naturally, proud to get it right the first time, but there's something off about the tune that Dahyun can't pinpoint. It doesn't sound as ambient similar to what Sana proposed.

 

To infer, the tune is comparable to the word trepidation, something that Dahyun can't apprehend very well.

 

Am I doing it wrong?

 

Dahyun meditates again, thinking that maybe it was just her voice in the wrong.

 

It sounds like an eerie soundtrack of a suspenseful horror movie (Twisted Nerve from the film Kill Bill is a probable example; the whistling that viewers find really dreadful).

 

Dahyun feels a shift in her stomach, only to look down and see that Sana has been staring at her (maybe a little too long by now and Dahyun didn't realize at all). "Your face says a lot," she snickered.

 

"I'm having a hard time. Help me out?"

 

"No can do."

 

"Whaaaat?"

 

Dahyun tils her head back when she groaned. She could hear Sana's stifled laughter from below, finding humor out of the situation.

 

"Why are you laughing?"

 

"You're actually taking this seriously."

 

"Of course I am!" Dahyun yells, in which Sana immediately shushed to lower down her voice. "I mean, why wouldn't I?"

 

"It's so funny to see you all worked up."

 

"It's typical," Dahyun quips. "I've been frustrated my whole life. I remember playing The Nutcracker Suite for the first time and felt nothing but frustration."

 

"The Nutcracker Suite is a classic selection. I can't believe you."

 

"I prefer playing Claude Debussy's Reverie, for your information."

 

"Don't attack me, I don't even play any instrument!" Sana argues with a light slap performed on Dahyun's lap, earning a feign wince from the victim in the process.

 

"See? Now you're the one who's worked up."

 

"Shut up..." Sana trails off when she rotates, her back facing Dahyun while Sana faces the dimmed street from above.

 

With the dark environment, Sana missed the pout that emerged from Dahyun's lips, who sulk quietly amidst the noisy argument beforehand.

 

Minutes later, Sana went back to sleep, still maintaining her position on Dahyun's (legs are appropriate for this situation since Sana nearly covered most of the pianist's body) lap despite the uncomfortable headrest. On the other hand, Dahyun is having a difficult time with her legs going numb in an instant, and shifting one leg a few inches or more after another is an inadequate solution to solve the problem.

 

The composition still hasn't left Dahyun's headspace, which keeps her up and drains the lethargy necessary for her to finally swallow and sleep. She lied down, her hands below her head to stick as an uneasy pillow, and the view of the night sky welcomes her once again.

 

The sky gets lighter as the time passes ― Dahyun noticed, but the stars have still sustained their visibility nonetheless. The moon is beaming still, smiling back like a close friend Dahyun never met.

 

And suddenly, a wave of reminiscence stun the pianist's head, engaging her in a trance that even she did not expect. It might have been the moon, or the stars, or the shooting star that passed behind Dahyun's view of the sky ― she missed, and yet, she felt.

 

 

Everyone gathered to watch the most awaited play prepared by the most skillful production crew starred by the most talented actors and actresses. In addition to that, a well-known music prodigy composed the background music for the whole stage.

 

The props, setting, and the stage itself looked spectacular for a campus play. The effort exerted was, in fact, more than enough, gaining wide mouths left ajar as reactions to the realistic presence.

 

The auditorium was filled with attendees, all excited to watch the act everyone worked hard for behind the scenes. The theatre crew invited as many as they can; from inside mates to outside friends, it's best to offer those people the best theatre act they will possibly watch.

 

Sana kept true to her word; she arrived two hours promptly with a bag or two of breakfast pastries for Dahyun's co-workers. The team appreciated her service very much but disappointed as there is no other option to show their gratitude but to do their utmost best with the performance. Although, Sana insists that their ability to display a thrilling execution is far more appreciated than any other process to reciprocate the hard work, meaning: allowing her to watch the play for free is satisfactory in exchange for the pastries. Yum.

 

Three hours and twenty-two minutes later, Sana's anticipation is finally rewarded when a grand piano is settled in the middle of the stage with the spotlight aiming towards a young female emerging from the curtains slid from the left side. Wearing a white outfit of a loose button-up shirt partnered with loose-fit trousers that Sana finds more of like pajamas, Dahyun began to walk towards the seat in front of the piano with an innocent aura.

 

Truth be told, Dahyun looks like an angel ― an angel about to play the song of a lifetime in preparation for everyone's ears to melt along with the imminent melody.

 

Sana has never seen such a sight.

 

And so, Dahyun lifts her hand dramatically as she starts to play the first verse of her composition.

 

Two notes ― the two notes that Sana had introduced ― absent. Dahyun starts off with notes of a high pitch, transitioning to a lower pitch that forms a perfect, lucid-like harmony.

 

Sana feels as if she was dancing above the waters under the moonlit sky, fireflies erupting from trees when Dahyun hits the refrain of her song. It screamed sincerity, like how Sana portrayed the pianist ever since the beginning of time, and now the fireflies are surrounding the grand piano when the lights dimmed and the only light that shone was the passionate music prodigy upon the stage.

 

And suddenly, the choir of stars glistened as the pale, dainty fingers struck the keys so smoothly; the mood of the auditorium shifts to a much more intimate environment that stuns everyone in an alluring reverie. In the middle of the audience, there sits in awe a beautiful girl next door from Dahyun's neighborhood, eyes filled with nothing but meteor showers and exceptional comets.

 

Sana was dancing, nobody knew, and Dahyun danced along. The excessive ripples produced from their animated feet touching the water grew larger each time Dahyun hits a group of keys.

 

Dahyun played by heart, disregarding Sana's demands. Sana knew right from the beginning.

 

For the first time in a while, Sana felt so tranquil ― stuck in a daydream where the moon is closing the gap between the two, similar to the distance between their two homes.

 

With the last key, Dahyun lets go of Sana's hand in conclusion to their momentary yet graceful sway.

 

And just like that, Sana felt the moon smile at her; Dahyun's brilliant eyes aimed right to where she sat, somewhere in the auditorium, in the middle of over hundreds of viewers.

 

Kim Dahyun knows where Sana sat down, Kim Dahyun knows that those demands were nothing but some test the other decides to provide, and Kim Dahyun knows the piano recital asked beforehand just so she can play solely for Sana to listen to.

 

The neighbor, with the most heartwarming smile she ever displayed, mouths a silent "Thank you." to the staring pianist.

 

"Of course, star."

 

A shooting star passed by later that night. Sana caught it, sitting beside Dahyun at twelve AM in the middle of the night on the rooftop where they saw it all.

 

 

The Song of the Night Sky ― fin.