A/N: 

There's a line that I used from a song here, but under any circumstances, don't listen to it when you read this fic.

Instead, listen to this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrh-pkGfDfA) when you see this mark: ***

Enjoy!

Dedicated to Charlie, loveliest human ever


===


“Unnie, do you like stars?” Minju asked, her eyes directed at the nighttime sky above them.

 

Chaewon’s finger that was about to pop open her can of soda stopped midway, her eyebrow raised at her companion’s sudden question.

 

“Why are you asking all of a sudden?” she asked back, continuing on her quest to downing her drink.

 

Minju shook her head. “Just a passing thought.”

 

The two of them were on another of their late-night “walks”, in which one of them spontaneously asks the other if they want to ditch the messy dorm in the wee hours of the night and stay out just talking while munching on convenience store food up until the break of dawn. As per protocol, they texted their leader Eunbi as well as the manager to alert them that they stepped outside for a moment. It was one of the few things the two of them enjoyed the most as it gave them a semblance of living a normal life, away from the limelight and the scrutiny of cameras. 

 

“Well, to answer your question,” Chaewon started. “Yes, I do like stars. I mean, is there anyone who doesn’t like stars when they’re one of the prettiest things the universe offers you?”

 

She heard Minju chuckle. “Of course! Stars are really beautiful.”

 

Not as beautiful as you. Chaewon silently thought, biting into her corndog.

 

“It would be nice to see all of them though,” Minju continued. “Living in the city only lets you see a few of them.”

 

The older girl nodded. “That’s true. Light pollution .”

 

Minju gave a soft laugh this time, the dimples beneath her eyes showing, and even Chaewon couldn’t help but grin.

 

“It’d be nice to go stargazing sometime,” Minju said. “Somewhere quiet and nice.”

 

“And dark,” Chaewon added, a sly tone in her voice. “Are you good with the dark, Minju-yah?”

 

“Are you?” Minju challenged back.

 

Chaewon just frowned at her, realizing she lost to that one.

 

“Well, if we went together then maybe we won’t be scared of the dark,” Chaewon said.

 

“Mhmm, we’ll have someone to keep in check from suddenly screaming or something,” she snickered.

 

Minju gave a wistful sigh, her eyes still watching the sky.

 

“Not anytime soon, though.”

 

Chaewon gave her a light pat on the head, against the black cap she wore as part of her disguise against public recognition. It couldn’t be helped; their occupation as public figures demanded most of their time that amidst one busy day after another, they wouldn’t realize they would wake up to a free day. 

 

“We’ll get there someday,” Chaewon told her.

 

Minju gave her a nod, somehow already looking forward to whenever that someday will be.

 

What she didn’t know was that her companion’s mind was already running a mile a minute making plans on a day she doesn’t know when will come yet.

---

Chaewon was out with Yena a few weeks later, driving themselves to a place they’ve never been before. It was fortunate that their schedules for the day ended early, so they had ample time to go somewhere they have been secretly discussing with each other behind the closed door of their room. Of course, they didn’t go out without asking for permission from the necessary people.

 

(While the manager suspiciously handed over the key to her car to Yena, all Eunbi gave the two was a smirk.)

 

The destination was approximately a one-hour drive away from the capital, but even when she already got her license, Chaewon still didn’t have enough confidence to drive long distances. The farthest she had driven was from the dorm to the studio, and that trip didn’t even last ten minutes. Thus, she employed the services of her roommate, who was (apparently) a more experienced driver than her.

 

“GPS don’t fail me now,” Yena muttered under her breath a few minutes after they entered the car.

 

“Are you sure you can do this? I’m suddenly having second thoughts of whether we could get there safely,” Chaewon told her older member, her hands unconsciously gripping her seatbelt tight.

 

“Shush!” Yena chided. “You gotta have faith in me, you know! And if you keep this up I’m gonna get cold feet, too.”

 

Chaewon sighed. “Okay unnie, I’ll put my faith in you.”

 

Yena nodded. “That’s the spirit! But remember, you gotta keep your end of the deal and be the one to drive us back home.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Chaewon uttered.

 

The drive went silent for a while, with Yena concentrating hard behind the wheel and Chaewon’s nerves still unrelaxed. It was only when they got to the freeway that they simultaneously let out a sigh of relief, giving way for chatter.

 

“Isn’t she a lucky girl,” Yena said, her eyes still fixed on the road but the smirk on her pouty lips visible. “To have someone plan this whole thing for her.”

 

Chaewon rolled her eyes. “What about you? Are you gonna go take your girl out somewhere too?”

 

Yena pursed her lips a bit in thought. “We’re gonna go to Busan.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“More specifically, we’re gonna drive to Busan.”

 

A beat.

 

“Oh.”

 

It was Yena’s turn to roll her eyes.

 

“Wow, you guys are so serious…”

 

Yena scoffed at her.

 

“She deserves nothing less!”

 

“But that’s Busan,” Chaewon countered. “That’s a four-hour drive.”

 

“That’s why I said yes to become your driver for this trip, so I can get experience on long distances,” Yena smiled. “Because she deserves—”

 

“Nothing less,” Chaewon mimicked. “Okay, I get it.”

 

Yena pouted.

 

They went silent for another while, with Chaewon just looking out the window mindlessly as the world zoomed past her. Her thoughts went to nitpicking her plan again, and as she went through it over and over some of the uneasiness that she had at the start of their trip slowly came back to her.

 

“She’ll like it, Chaewon-ah,” Yena said out of the blue.

 

“We haven’t even gotten there yet,” Chaewon said, looking over to Yena.

 

“Nah,” Yena shook her head. “She likes everything you do, and even more so if it’s something that you did specifically for her.”

 

Chaewon slowly turned her head back towards the window in an attempt to hide her oncoming blush from her older friend.

 

“If anything, she’s absolutely smitten,” Yena teased even more.

 

Chaewon gave out a loud scoff and the radio.

 

“Shut up and drive, unnie!”

 

Yena just laughed at her friend’s antics.

---

“And you’re… you’re supposed to go here at night?”

 

“Y… Yeah…”

 

The two girls were heaving their lungs out; they and their bodies were definitely not ready for the sudden workout they had to endure when they arrived.

 

“Good luck doing all that in the dark…”

 

“We’ll manage somehow.”

 

They both took in a deep breath and evened out their breathing, taking in the autumn air that was crisper than what they have been inhaling so far back in Seoul.

 

“It’s a great spot, Chaewon-ah,” Yena said, looking around. “I take back what I said earlier. She won’t like this, she’ll love it.”

 

The younger girl grinned at Yena.

 

“In any case, we better head back,” Chaewon said. “Before anybody else gets suspicious.”

 

They made their way back to the car, their lungs not giving out this time. Chaewon took the seat behind the wheel as what they agreed on and started the car. She started driving the vehicle out of its parking spot, and with the help of the trusty GPS, gradually made her way towards the expressway back to Seoul.

 

“Oh, and by the way,” Yena said. “If you don’t want to make the drive back in the middle of the night, we passed by an inn earlier and you can spend the night there.”

 

Chaewon absentmindedly nodded at her, her eyes not leaving the road.

 

“Just don’t forget to use protection!”

 

Yena earned herself a slap on the arm right then and there.

---

Minju heard a knock on her bedroom door a few evenings later.

 

“Minju-yah, are you ready?” came Chaewon’s muffled voice from behind the door.

 

“Just a minute, unnie!” she called out to her. She checked herself over in the mirror once more to see if anything was amiss, and once confirming that she looked alright, she walked over to her door and opened it. Chaewon was standing just outside, black cap already on her head covering almost half her face. The older girl gave her a grin when she saw her and what she was wearing.

 

“You look great,” Chaewon complimented her. “Although you should stop being such a copycat sometimes. I wore the beige coat and hoodie first.”

 

Minju rolled her eyes. “Maybe you were the one who peeked inside my room and decided to wear a beige coat and a hoodie too.”

 

Chaewon gasped dramatically. “Are you accusing me of being a peeper, Kim Minju?”

 

Minju didn’t back down and gave her a mocking but playful look. “Maybe you are, Kim Chaewon-unnie?”

 

Chaewon shot her back a similar look.

 

“Time check: Seven PM,” they heard Eunbi’s voice from the living room. “Did you guys change the venue of your date to just staying in or are you guys purposely running late?”

 

Chaewon and Minju shared a look at the sound of their oldest member. The older girl shook her head and smiled, offering a palm turned upwards for Minju to hold. They walked hand-in-hand towards the living room, where the rest of the residents of their dorm were currently lounging in, and they noticed how all of their heads perked up at the sight of them together.

 

“The two Kims twinning on their date out to somewhere, how absolutely predictable,” Hyewon said monotonously from beside Eunbi.

 

“You guys are the sappiest ever,” Yena said with a pout. “Whose car did you borrow, Chaewon?”

 

“Come on now, don’t be jealous,” Chaewon teased them. “And it’s my older sister’s car.”

 

Hyewon made a face and slung an arm around Eunbi’s shoulders.

 

“Wherever you guys are going, don’t forget to buy souvenirs,” Yujin said.

 

“Will do,” Minju answered. “Anyway, we better get going.”

 

“Have a safe trip, you two,” Eunbi bade them. “Oh, and keep your eyes on the road, Chaewon, no matter how distracting your passenger is.”

 

“Unnie!” the four other people in the dorm heard the pair whine at the same time, making them react in laughter. It was both a curse and a blessing how their eldest member knew them so much to the point that she knows which buttons to push to get a reaction from them.

 

After one more muttering of “we’ll be back soon”, Chaewon and Minju made their way out of the dorm, their hands still clasped onto each other.

---

“Where exactly are we going, unnie?”

 

Minju asked Chaewon from the passenger seat, the orange glow from the street lights along the expressway illuminating her face in and out in a regular rhythm.

 

“You’ll see when we get there,” Chaewon answered her promptly.

 

“Not even a hint?” Minju tried.

 

Chaewon just shook her head with a smile. Minju then pouted, giving up on trying to make Chaewon say something.

 

“All you have to know is that we’re going somewhere pretty,” Chaewon said. 

 

“Okay…” Minju said. 

 

They sat in comfortable silence as Chaewon focused on her driving and Minju humming along to the song on the radio. It was when the car passed an overhead sign that showed directions of nearby locations that Minju finally got the answer of where their destination might be.

 

“Gyeonggi-do?” Minju said, her eyes on the green sign up until they passed it. “We’re going to Gyeonggi-do?”

 

Chaewon just shrugged, her eyes not leaving the road.

 

“Why are we going to Gyeonggi-do?” Minju asked again.

 

Again, Chaewon gave her a shrug.

 

Minju knew she wasn’t going to get any kind of information out of Chaewon, the older girl was stubborn that way. She leaned back against her seat and sighed, giving up again. She just opted to go back to what she was doing a few moments before and softly sang along to whatever song was playing on the radio right now.

 

“Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars…”

---

Chaewon parked the car in the same spot where Yena parked it when they made the first trip. The only difference was that they got to their destination at nighttime. Minju looked around as they got out of the car, noticing how it looked like they were in the middle of nowhere: the parking lot was in the middle of a forest of tall trees, with the whole place drenched in darkness save for a few lights coming from nearby buildings. She noticed that the air was colder than usual, her nose tingling with every inhale she took. She was about to tilt her head up to look at the sky when Chaewon put a palm against the top of her head to prevent her from doing so, just in the nick of time.

 

“Don’t,” Chaewon said. “That’s part of the surprise. Just keep your eyes on me for a while.”

 

Minju gave her a questioning look but decided to go along with it still.

 

Chaewon stepped closer to her and held both of her cheeks, gently squishing them inwards.

 

“Alright,” Chaewon said. “Minju, do you trust me?”

 

“Uh,” Minju muttered out, growing more confused by the second. “Why?”

 

Chaewon shook her head and repeated the question. “Do you trust me?”

 

“Uh… Yes?”

 

“Then, would it be okay for me to put a blindfold on you?”

 

Minju was taken aback by her words, and even more so by her determination.

 

“W-What?”

 

Chaewon just gave her a nod, her eyes reflecting her resolve. Minju sighed in defeat, giving the older girl a small nod.

 

“Okay, just make sure I don’t trip or something.”

 

The last thing Minju saw before her vision got blocked into nothing was Chaewon’s cheeky grin as she pulled out a blindfold from her coat pocket.

 

“Stay still for a bit,” she heard her say as she recognized the sound of the car’s trunk being opened along with soft rustles of what sounded like cloth. After another while, she heard the trunk getting shut closed, and the familiar warmth of Chaewon’s hand around hers followed after.

 

“Ready?” Minju heard the older girl ask softly.

 

“Ready,” came her small reply.

 

In the darkness, all that registered in her mind was the sound of Chaewon’s voice and the touch of her skin against hers, and that was all she focused on.

 

“Don’t let go.”

***

They have been walking for a few minutes now, with Chaewon leading Minju as the girl tried to keep herself from stumbling over her steps. Chaewon never let go of Minju’s hand since the start of their walk, her soft but firm grip never slipping even when Minju felt the pavement they were walking on gradually turned into dirt filled with stones and dried leaves.

 

“Unnie…” Minju started to whine. “Are we there yet?”

 

“Almost,” Chaewon said. There she was again with the vague answers. 

 

Keeping her unease at a minimum, Minju just held on Chaewon’s hand tighter, putting her complete trust in her. It was only after a few more minutes of walking and Chaewon guided her to a stop. 

 

“Stand still for a while,” Chaewon said, slowly letting go of Minju’s hand.

 

“U-Unnie…?!” Minju said in a small panic as she felt the warmth leave her palm.

 

“Don’t worry,” came Chaewon’s voice. “I’m still here. Just gotta set something up.”

 

Minju did as she was told and stood still in the darkness of her blocked vision, her uneasiness growing with every second that she didn’t feel Chaewon’s warmth next to her. She heard the familiar rustle of cloth again, and with a few more seconds of waiting, she felt slender fingers slip themselves through hers once more.

 

“I can see you sigh in relief,” Chaewon teased. “You really can’t live without me, can you?”

 

Chaewon felt the hand she was holding curl its fingers and dug the nails against her skin lightly, just enough to elicit an “ow!” from her. She shook her head at Minju, even when she knows she couldn’t see the gesture. Chaewon then took Minju’s other hand and guided her to slowly walk forward, with her stepping backward.

 

“Slowly, alright?” Chaewon softly muttered.

 

Minju kept one foot in front of the other just as Chaewon asked her, her hands fastened onto Chaewon’s. Eventually, the dirt beneath her feet turned into something softer, the texture of dried leaves and stones combined gone. She walked a few more steps forward until Chaewon halted her. She then felt Chaewon gently pull her arms down, guiding her to take a seat. It was when she finally landed her on the ground that she guessed what she was on: a cloth mat. She felt Chaewon let go of her hands once more and placed them instead on both of her shoulders.

 

“Lie down,” Chaewon said, gently pushing her shoulders down. She put a hand on Minju’s back to guide her slowly as the younger leaned back, shifting herself to lie down on the mat in a comfortable position.

 

When Minju felt Chaewon’s hands leave her again, she heard muffled movement against the mat from beside her until she recognized that Chaewon was lying down beside her.

 

“Alright,” Chaewon said, her voice soft and almost a whisper. “I’m taking off the blindfold now.”

 

Minju felt the blindfold slowly get pulled upwards, allowing her to regain her vision. When she opened her eyes, she couldn’t help but widen them in awe, a small gasp making its way out of her.

 

The view that set itself directly in front of her eyes was something beyond words.

 

The night sky that presented itself that night was in a form that Minju had never once seen in the entirety of her life before. It was in its purest darkness, untouched by any kind of man-made illumination coming from the earth. The stars, contrasting the dark sky it adorned, shone their brightness to a maximum, their twinkling movements visible despite being a thousand miles away. 

 

“Oh my god…” Minju whispered. “It’s so beautiful.”

 

“It is, isn’t it?” Chaewon muttered from beside her. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

 

“I think I’m gonna cry, unnie.”

 

“You’re overreacting again.”

 

“When…? How…? Why?” Minju stuttered, not knowing what to ask first. 

 

Chaewon chuckled. “Scoot over here first,” she said, patting the space between them. “It’s autumn and it’s a bit chilly.”

 

Minju was more than happy to oblige, immediately moving closer towards Chaewon, who already had her arm stretched out for Minju to lay her head on. The two girls snuggled against each other in comfort, already feeling the warmth emanating through their layers of clothes. Chaewon placed her cheek against Minju’s head, rubbing against it softly as she heard the younger girl sigh in comfort.

 

“Remember when you said you wanted to go stargazing some weeks ago?” Chaewon started, her eyes not leaving the night sky. “I thought it would be nice to pull through with it while at the same time take it easy for a bit, so I asked the manager when our next day-off would be and began planning since then.”

 

Minju listened intently to Chaewon’s warm voice as she began telling her how she came up with the idea of the date.

 

“At first I wanted to take you to a nearby planetarium or observatory, but a few days ago I came across a video from an anime I didn’t recognize while becoming a victim to YouTube’s algorithm,” Chaewon continued, earning herself a snicker from the other girl as she said her latest words. “And it was a pretty scene, where the couple did the same thing as what we’re doing right now, so I wanted to emulate it.

 

“W-Well, I’d have to apologize for the lack of originality, of course,” Chaewon said after, a hint of a bashful tone in her voice.

 

“It’s alright,” Minju consoled her. “Date ideas are meant to be replicated all the time anyway.”

 

Chaewon giggled.

 

“So I showed that video to Yena-unnie, who thought it was a good idea too. I looked up spots where the altitude was high enough for stargazing but was still close enough to Seoul, and one of them is the place where we are now,” Chaewon continued. “So, finally, the answer to your question of where this place is: Mt. Myeongji in Gyeonggi-do. I dragged Yena-unnie out here to check the place out beforehand, and it was perfect. Though we did come here at daytime.”

 

Minju nodded against her, the new piece of information clicking in her mind. She did wonder where the two roommates ran off to that day as soon as their schedules finished.

 

“There’s actually an observatory nearby, but I wanted to spend time with you in private,” Chaewon said. “Somewhere just the two of us, where we can forget about the world for a bit and just… lie here.”

 

Chaewon felt Minju grab the hand that was laying on her stomach and took it in hers, intertwining their fingers together.

 

“It’s perfect, unnie,” she heard Minju whisper. “Thank you.”

 

Chaewon turned her head and planted a kiss on Minju’s hair. “I’m glad you like it.”

 

Silence ensued then, one that was cozy and wholeheartedly welcomed, as they just laid there watching the stars make their minuscule movements across the dark blanket of the nighttime sky while basking in each other’s presence. Save for the sounds of nature coming from the surrounding forest, the world was quiet as if it stayed that way just for the pair, who had been leading such busy lives, while they enjoyed the respite together.

 

“I wish I could name the constellations up there,” Chaewon said, her voice low. “The video I watched had one of the couple point them out easily.”

 

“Don’t worry, when we come back here we’ll make sure to do our homework,” Minju told her. The unspoken promise of a return to this secret spot with a front-row view of the galaxy gently lit a flame in Chaewon’s heart.

 

They fell quiet again, the sound of their breathing making its way to their ears.

 

“I don’t think I’ve said this enough, especially with how busy we’ve been recently, but I love you, Minju-yah.”

 

“I love you too, unnie. So much to the point that I want to shout it on top of the world but at the same time just whisper it in your ear.”

 

“Well, aren’t you cheesy.”

“Only for you.”

Minju heard Chaewon let out a soft chuckle.

“Say, unnie,” Minju suddenly propped herself up on an elbow, turning sideways to look down on Chaewon. 

 

“Hm?” Chaewon hummed as she shifted her eyes away from the night sky and towards Minju’s own.

“How did that video you watched end?”

Chaewon just regarded Minju for a while, endlessly looking at the younger’s eyes that shone just as bright as the stars above. It was at that very moment that Chaewon came to a realization: she didn’t need to look at the night sky all the time to see the stars, as she could easily find it in Minju’s eyes.

A soft smile made its way to her lips.

“You wanna know?”

Minju nodded.

Chaewon removed her hand from Minju’s hold and placed it on the younger’s cheek, her fingers caressing it. Before Minju knew it, Chaewon was already gently pulling her face down, pushing their lips against each other in a tender kiss.

And, just like the end of that scene she watched, it was truly a night to be forever remembered, for both Chaewon and Minju.

===


A/N:

This is the scene that Chaewon watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15ljA_zM0ME&t=353s

The Monogatari Series is such a great, well, series

Thank you for reading!