Hyejoo could never understand why Yerim liked the moon and the stars so much; space as a whole, really. Hyejoo thought they were nice to look at but nothing beyond that; she didn't have an interest in the planets, she couldn't care less for the constellations, didn't know anything about the zodiac signs (she wouldn't have known hers if it weren't for Yerim), thought the moon landing was fake—Yerim whole-heartedly believed it was real, Hyejoo adamantly thought otherwise. 

But she didn't mind when Yerim would call her at some ungodly hour—Hyejoo would sometimes already be awake, the addiction to playing video games an aftermath of her inability to sleep early, or sometimes Hyejoo would be spending the night at Yerim's and they'd take the night to go out—asking for her to go see the stars because they were especially bright out that night or just simply wanting to be out and about. Hyejoo could never deny her requests, never complained when she'd be woken up or in the middle of a League of Legends match. She'd either spend the last few minutes under her covers before hauling herself out of bed or leave her character standing at her team's base (often getting reported for going AFK, but she could stand not playing for a couple of days if she got a temporary ban). 

If Hyejoo was being honest, she loved hearing Yerim's excited cheer on the other end of the line. She could always picture Yerim's beaming grin when she shouted joyfully through the phone, "Take me to the moon!" 

And, of course, Hyejoo would respond—all tired and groggy—with, "And never back."

That's always how it went. Yerim would call, Hyejoo would answer, they'd both sneak out and meet each other right out front—they lived right next to each other, and Yerim never failed to greet Hyejoo with a quick kiss that always made Hyejoo feel warm all over—and off they'd go; Yerim clinging onto Hyejoo as she rode her bike to their spot. It was as simple as that.

So, there they were, lying side by side, their pinky fingers intertwined as Yerim would use her other hand to point up toward the sky, telling Hyejoo all about the stars.

"See that one?" Yerim asked, her finger trailing a distinct shape that Hyejoo was trying to follow, but couldn't quite catch. Hyejoo hummed anyway, turning to look at Yerim as discreetly as she could so that she wouldn't divert her attention from the sky. "That's Auriga and—oh! Look!" her arm snapped to the side, a grin forming so wide that it prompted Hyejoo to smile at the sight. "There's Gemini!"

Hyejoo turned to look, only seeing various bright dots scattered along a dark blue sky. She'd squint, trying to pinpoint the shapes the stars would form, mentally trying to connect the dots like she used to do on paper when she was little, but the task proved harder when they weren't numbered or traceable. Hyejoo could never understand how Yerim memorized all the different constellations, all their placements and shapes; it baffled her. 

But it also impressed her. 

Beside her, Yerim sighed. Her arm dropped by her side and for a moment, they both lied still, neither saying a word or breaking the silence that settled between them. For a moment, they let the sounds of the gentle waves fill the silence, listening to them make contact with the sand on shore, leaving behind fragments of shells that belonged to clams and sea snails who have since abandoned their previous homes in search for bigger, better shells. 

Hyejoo wished she could do the same so easily. She wished she could leave her home and take Yerim with her. She'd take her to the moon. Hyejoo would take Yerim all the way to the moon and they wouldn't have to sneak out of their houses; Hyejoo wouldn't have to fear her parents finding out and sit there as they tore into her for every little imperfection about her. She wished she could take herself and Yerim straight to the moon with no repercussions. 

She wondered if the sky looked different on the moon. 

She wondered if they'd see all the stars differently or just the same. She wondered how it would be like to wake up to Earth every day. She wondered if maybe she could be an astronaut when she grew up, but then pushed that thought away. Hyejoo would be a terrible astronaut. 

She turned to Yerim whose eyes were still darting all over the sky, her dark hair fanned around the pale sand beneath her. Hyejoo thought that Yerim would make a good astronaut. She knew so much about space already—or at least, Hyejoo thought she did. Yerim at least knew so much more than Hyejoo did. 

"Would you be an astronaut?" Hyejoo wasn't sure what exactly prompted her to ask, but they hadn't really talked about it in a while. Hyejoo assumed that her answer would remain the same after all the years of declaring she would become one when she grew up. 

Rather than turning to her, however, Hyejoo felt Yerim's hand gently close around her thumb where they had previously linked pinkies. "No, I don't think so," she answered quietly, her eyes stilling from its movement before, focusing on something in the sky. 

But the response surprised Hyejoo since she thought she knew her girlfriend well enough to know what she wanted to be when she grew up. She could even remember Yerim always shouting and exclaiming that she would be the best astronaut there ever was when they were kids, always drawing her and Hyejoo standing on the moon decked out in space gear, befriending the green, balloon-headed, bug-eyed aliens they believed secretly inhabited their moon. "But you love space and all that stuff," she stated, confusion lacing her tone as she studied Yerim's expression. 

Except Yerim was giving nothing away as to what she was thinking, which, in all honesty, frightened Hyejoo a little because Yerim was always so easy to read; she was always so expressive. But she looked so impassive right then, so stony and so cold, Hyejoo couldn't even figure out why. She wracked her brain for anything that might have set her off earlier that day, but nothing came to mind since Yerim had told her she had aced her math test in the morning. Maybe it was something Yerim was expecting later during the day or even the week. Something might have even happened with her moms, but Yerim's never told her anything like that before. Yerim loved her parents and she rarely had any problems with them. But something could have happened, no family was perfect; Hyejoo knew that too well.

"Yeah, I do love space," Yerim replied easily, and Hyejoo could see her expression soften—that, at least, made Hyejoo feel a little reassured. "But I don't think I could be an astronaut."

Again, Hyejoo was surprised by the answer. She couldn't think of a reason as to why Yerim couldn't be an astronaut. Propping herself up on her elbow, Hyejoo peered down at Yerim and asked, "Why not? I bet you'd make an awesome astronaut." And she believed it, too. She could already see Yerim floating upside down in zero gravity, cheeks pressing up and making her eyes close to crescents like a waning moon because of her laughter, she could imagine Yerim exploring unidentified planets, meeting aliens, forming alliances with the alien civilization, building the bridge between humanity and extraterrestrial life. Yeah... Hyejoo could imagine all of that. Despite believing the first moon landing was a farce, Hyejoo adamantly believed in alien life somewhere out in their solar system. There had to be something else out there. 

Yerim finally looked up at Hyejoo now that she was sort of blocking her view from the sky, and propped herself up on both elbows, facing Hyejoo but looking down at the ground. Her hand had let go of Hyejoo's, her fingers now idly raking the sand and leaving small grooves and divots between them. "It's not that I don't want to be one. I think it'd be cool and all, but..." Yerim trailed off, shrugging and returning back to lying on the ground. "It's nothing." 

But it wasn't just "nothing". Hyejoo could tell. Something was off and Yerim was