Minseok loves looking at the stars. He loves reaching out to the sky every night when the sky is painted an indigo hue and dots of white and orange and blue are glistening with the moon, spreading his fingers impossibly and grinning wide. If he would be able to grasp a star within his hand, he would be the happiest person alive.

 

And that is basically Luhan's plan.

 

-

 

It was Valentine's Day.

 

The sunlight crept through the fluttering satin curtains while the aircon hummed a monotone as the day started. It was past six o'clock and it will be five minutes later when Minseok's alarm will sing beep countless of times.

 

The seventeen-years-old boy was comfortably cuddling with his pillow like a child to a stuffed bear when the foretold song was sung.

 

Beep beep beep.

 

Minseok groaned as he blindly searched and patted for his cursed clock. He groggily sat up after, angrily messing his hair and throwing a fit because why does school need to start so damned early? Can't he wake up at noon instead?

 

He was pouting and sulking for two minutes when his phone rang, and he would undoubtedly choose to throw said annoying phone if the caller I.D. was not programmed with something as cheesy as 'Baby Bambi ♥'.

 

“Hello,” Minseok answered, still pouting and all, but now it was added with continuous banging of the head to the bed's headrest.

 

“A very, very happy morning, Baozi,” a cheery voice from the other line replied. It was definitely Luhan, and he was unexpectedly cheerful at a morning. It was known to Minseok that Luhan wakes several hours after him, causing the other boy to be late in attending his morning classes and thus, getting detention every single time. Therefore, it was very unusual for the sulking boy to get a call from the younger this early and for the other to be this cheerful at this time of the day.

 

Minseok hummed as he rubbed his still sleepy eyes. “Why are you awake so early, baby-ah?”

 

“Nothing,” Luhan sang. This was definitely unusual.

 

Minseok, used to his boyfriend's antics, unconsciously nodded because of habit and mumbled an okay to the other line and Luhan replied with a “Let's meet later? Okayokay? I love you,” before he hung up immediately.

 

Minseok mumbled an “Okay. I love you too,” to his phone before he threw it somewhere safe. He then stood up and stretched his arms and twisted his body gently, yawning during the process. He went straight to the bathroom to do his normal morning routine, after.

 

It was when he shouldered his bag and went out of his house did he realize that the date was February fourteen.

 

And to say that he was excited was an understatement.

 

-

 

Minseok was skipping as he thread his way against the hundreds of students in the corridor towards his classroom where he will finally see Luhan. On his way, he received greetings from his schoolmates consisting of happy valentine's and it's hearts day, yo, but he paid no attention to them and instead quickly trudged his way towards his destination.

 

But before he can do that, of course there would be obstacles. And said obstacle was unfortunately his annoying group of friends.

 

“Yo, hyung!” A smug Jongin.

 

“Hyungiya! Happy V-day,” An adorable Kyungsoo.

 

“Heh,” Stupid Jongdae.

 

“Hi Minseok-ge! Happy Hearts Day, Minmin-ge,” The cute Yixing.

 

“Happy Valentines, wassup,” Weirdo Wufan.

 

Minseok groaned because how can he break this wall of annoying people; he needed to see his Luhan, damn it.

 

“Move,” he growled, clutching at his bag strap and glaring at each of his friends per three seconds.

 

Jongdae smirked and mouthed a big NO while Wufan raised his eyebrow in amusement; the other three had their own fantasy world to talk about.

 

“Excited to see someone, huh, Minminseokkie?” Jongdae teased the oldest, lightly poking the other on the stomach.

 

Minseok coughed to hide the growing red tint on his cheeks and ears. “No. Why would I?” he mumbled as he slapped Jongdae's hand away (which was expectedly not useful since the troll kept on annoying the other).

 

“Uhm, because Luhan is not here?” Wufan still has his brow raised. The ever-so-smug Wufan, Minseok sighed, that thinks that he was a dragon – which was atrocious to even think about – but was actually a softie and a weirdo inside. Minseok mentally grinned when he remembered entering Wufan's room and being shocked when he saw an army of fluffy, stuffed animals staring at him from their place on the tall blond's bed.

 

“...And the connection is?” he deadpanned.

 

“That you're excited to meet him and that the fact that it is Valentine's Day today makes you all the more excited!” Jongdae piped in, pinching the oldest's cheeks as if his hands were pinchers of a very noisy crustacean clawing at a steamed bun.

 

“I am so not,” Minseok drawled, flailing his arms up in the air like a wacko.

 

The other three who were having their own world awhile ago stared at them and started to pipe in their opinions too.

 

“Yes. Yes, you are, hyung,” Jongin said. He has an arm around Kyungsoo's waist while the other student was grinning wide and was poking his boyfriend's cheek.

 

Yixing, on the other hand, weirdly teamed up with crustacean Jongdae and decided that he wanted to be crab Yixing; so he started pinching Minseok's fluffy and now-too-red-because-of-pinching cheeks too.

 

Minseok rolled his eyes at the casualness of this all and he decided that yea, let them be this is the norm and the fad yadda yadda, praise the Lord.

 

Good thing that Luhan arrived a few seconds later with glittering eyes and an amused expression on his face. He immediately snatched away his Minseok from the clawing hands and smugness of the people around.

 

“What were you guys doing to my Baby Baozi?” he pouted as he hid Minseok behind his back with his arms wrapped around the other's body.

 

Jongdae and Wufan and Jongin feint vomit while Yixing and Kyungsoo laughed.

 

“We were just touching him, hyung,” Jongdae replied.

 

“Touching, eh?” Luhan raised a brow, but more dainty than what Wufan had done.

 

Wufan rolled his eyes. “Whatever, whatever, you sick love birds. Go away and fly. Yeah.”

 

All eyes looked at the tallest, which was Wufan, and the latter shrugged. Jongin sarcastically raised his eloquent opinion, “Fly. Really, hyung. Yes, hyung. Yes. We do have wings, yes? Just like you, Mister Dragon, yes?”

 

Kyungsoo groaned and dragged the youngest, Jongin, away to stop all of his nonsense.

 

“So,” Yixing drawled as he looked at his wrist watch. “Time to go, people. Almost bell, come on.” He waved bye to the two eldest of their group and dragged an offended Wufan and a hyper Jongdae along his way.

 

The annoying wall was finally broken. Finally.

 

When everyone was gone and it was only Luhan and Minseok in the hallway, the youngest of the two turned to his lover with a bright smile.

 

“Wanna skip class?” he suggested and Minseok looked at him weirdly.

 

“Really?”

 

He nodded. “Yep. Really.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I want to,” Luhan sing-songed as he pecked both of Minseok's cheeks.

 

So his gift was getting us detention for going to school to have a date or something, Minseok thought as Luhan entwined their hands together and dragged him to an abandoned classroom at the end of the hallway.

 

For about point zero five seconds post-arriving to their destination, Luhan eased Minseok up a teacher's table and the older thought that his boyfriend would kiss him so hard because it was Heart's Day and that is what couples usually do when–

 

“I got the scholarship!” Luhan squealed and Minseok almost fell down from his position on the table.

 

He blinked at the other guy. “What?” his voice sounded like a dying mouse.

 

But Luhan's cheerful expression did not fade, and he obviously did not notice Minseok's small sound of disappointment because his boyfriend had not even greeted him Happy Valentine's and he had not even gave him chocolates and he had not even gave a single kiss!

 

Minseok sighed and reprimanded himself to be patient.

 

“Scholarship, Luhan?” he asked the boy in front of him who was acting like a person who won the lottery.

 

Luhan, hearing his lover acknowledge him, immediately embraced the other boy in a tight hug and started to ramble. The only thing Minseok could do was to nod and add in some random words to signify the younger that he was listening. He would always be right there to listen to the other, after all.

 

“You know the scholarship I applied for last, last month? It was –“

 

“– Ow, yea. That scholarship! –“

 

“– given to me this morning, and I stayed up all night because I knew that they were going to send the good news to my email this morning and I was so excited I could not keep my eyes closed and I keep –“

 

“– You did not sleep?! –“

 

“– on flailing all the time because oh my god, the scholarship. This is the thing I was waiting for, Minseok-ah! And guess what? I was given the scholarship, and and and and I am so happy I could not contain my feels and I am so sorry that I am hugging you so tight right now but I am just really so ecstatic and so happy and so jubilant and so smiley and so cheerful and so I don't know any adjectives anymore, and imagine it I am going to a famous art school next school year, Minseok-ah! And –“

 

“– I am really, really happy for you, Baby-ah. –“

 

“– I can pursue my dreams. That is what you wanted me to do, right? To pursue my dreams because you want me happy and I am really happy. Oh my god, I am so so so happy, I can die right now. Wait, I cannot die. I must fulfill my goal in this life that you inspired and I need to make you happy too and we need to grow old together and adopt kids and live in a simple house and buy a puppy. A white one, too! And we'll name him Harang. And, oh –“

 

“– Luhan? Luhan, you're getting out of topic. –“

 

“– We will have three children, right? Twins and a little boy. Ahhh, I am so excited. Imagine that: me and you having our own family and–“

 

“– Lulu, as much as I love to discuss this topic with you, I need to understand the things about the scholarship –“

 

“– we will live a very, very happy life. And, oh, do not forget the pizza! Gah, the pizza. I love the pizza, and you love it too, right? We'll order it everyday and everynight. It would be so fun. And our kids will eat with us –“

 

“– Wait, what. Pizza. Really, Lu. –“

 

“– and we will have a pizza-loving family because pizza is just so delicious and it is so greasy like Wufan and he likes to be a dragon. Why does he like to be a dragon? And he likes Yixing, yea? I am right with that, am I not? And those plushies of his, gahd. They're an army. I mean, do not they scare you when you visit his room and they're like staring at you with those glassy eyes and they're just creepy because they are so plenty and –

 

“– LUHAN.”

 

Luhan finally stopped and loosened his embrace a bit as he stared at Minseok with his doe eyes.

 

“What?” he asked in this usual innocent voice of his. And his face was like this → (o n o; ), and not like this → (e u e; ), thank you very much.

 

Minseok sighed as he closed the gap between him and the younger, sticking their foreheads together during the process.

 

“Your scholarship. Please explain properly, without rambling,” he pleaded.

 

“Well I... uhm,” Luhan mumbled. “Got the scholarship? Yea? And I received it this morning and I did not sleep because of that which was I called you early, and I'm sure you were surprised by me calling you at that time. The reason why I am so cheerful today is because I passed. I passed, Minseok-ah!” He was grinning now and Minseok felt proud.

 

He sighed in the inside, though, because Luhan forgot about Valentine's Day. And that he woke up early not because he had something prepared for Minseok, that he was cheerful at the moment not because he was excited to see Minseok, and that he did not ask him to skip classes because he wanted to have a date with Minseok. He was all that not because of Minseok but because he passed a freaking scholarship and he would finally fulfill his childhood dream.

 

Minseok was happy for him – really he was. He would always wish the best for Luhan. But he could not contain the disappointment he felt inside. (Not a single greeting. Not a single gift. Not a single kiss.)

 

Luhan was looking at him with his smiling eyes and he did not want to also disappoint the other by showing his sulking face. So he showed his normal smile – though a little bit fake – and hugged the other, continuously whispering 'congratulations' and 'I am so glad you made it' to the other's ear.

 

He did not want to assume, but maybe Luhan forgot about Valentine's Day because of that stupid scholarship.

 

-

 

It was four o' clock in the afternoon and it was dismissal. Luhan left immediately after Minseok hugged him to death and cried intensely on the inside, which further increased Minseok's sadness.

 

Minseok was walking home when Jongdae appeared from nowhere and schocked the lights out of him.

 

“Boo!”

 

Minseok yelped and almost fell. Jongdae, obviously, laughed obnoxiously in front of the public. The other huffed and stomped his way outside the school gates which Jongdae shrugged off, following the older's steps.

 

“How was Valentine's?” he nudged the older and sent a wink to his direction.

 

Minseok frowned and replied a fine as he sped up his walk.

 

Jongdae, though, still managed to follow the other's fast pace with much ease of a cat. “Then why do you look so upset?” he asked, wrapping an arm around the other's shoulders. It was nothing romantic, just a brotherly gesture.

 

Minseok sighed. At least his other friends greeted him and at least Jongdae was there to talk to him until he got home.

 

“Nothing,” he said. Truthfully, he was feeling like his soul left him. And he felt so pathetic because why was he moping over this single event? Luhan was always sweet to him and he always gave him everything he wanted. He was acting spoiled and it was unacceptable. Luhan was busy minding his scholarship and Minseok must not be selfish.

 

He sighed again and told himself that cannot he mope even once? He just wanted to let this feeling of disappointment out. He will be back to his usual self again, after, he promises.

 

“Are you okay, hyung?” Jongdae asked, worried.

 

Minseok looked at him and showed a smile that definitely looked like a grimace, and the other winced.

 

“Aw. Come on. Just let me take you home.” The younger hugged Minseok like the good friend he (sometimes) was and accompanied him home.

 

-

 

There was once a boy who dreamt of killing dragons and saving princesses. He was a cute, little one with vast dreams and big, doe eyes that showed endless depths of glowing lights.

 

One day, he met a boy. He did not notice, but his life changed because of that unexpected meeting.

 

The boy he met was someone he looked up to. He was strong and he did not cry whenever he scraped his knee. He remembered what he said to him the last time they were playing on school grounds and a ball hit his head causing him to fall. It’s okay. It does not take much to stand back up and smile again, right? I mean, it won’t harm you to try and walk again, would it?

 

From that day onward, his blank and empty life turned three hundred, sixty degrees from sadness to this wonderful world where the sun shines so bright and where rainbows are more colorful than thousands of crayons.

 

The boy's name was Luhan and the boy who scraped his knee but did not cry was named Minseok. The two of them became joined at the hip, and they later on became one.

 

-

 

It was seven o' clock and Minseok had nothing to do. He already finished his assignments and has finished studying, and now he was bored. Looking for good shows on the television was not working too well and he was too lazy to cook or order for take out. He was not hungry anyway, so why would he?

 

He was currently practicing the art of boredom like how Luhan was maybe practicing his art of dance when his phone rang.

 

He screamed when it did because the ring was so loud his ears almost combusted because of the deafening noise.

 

He ran to answer the ringing phone and sighed in relief when the stupid sound stopped.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Minseok-ah, this is Luhan, and I need you here in our usual place right now and I have waited here for two hours and I am freezing and you know that I am not good with low temperatures and I thought I have called you already but I was so stupid because I actually didn't and here I am now, calling you. So please, please, please come here right now because I am freezing. Please, Minseok-ah. Pleasepleaseplease.”

 

And then he hung up.

 

Minseok blinked at the phone and raised an eyebrow before going to his room to change. He will surely ask what happened to Luhan later when he arrives.

 

-

 

He arrived, and to say that he was definitely disappointed was an understatement.

 

It was already seven thirty in the evening and Luhan said he had been waiting for him to come since five in their usual place at the park, but he was nowhere to be seen. No one was around, just him and some opened street lamps. It was dark and cold and Minseok felt very alone.

 

Maybe Luhan ditched him because he took so long in changing, and he knew that the other was really y when it came to low temperatures and that he was such a girl when it comes to waiting.

 

Minseok sighed and slumped on their usual bench as he thought of how miserable this Valentine's Day was.

 

Luhan and him had been together for four years and in every special occasion, they both prepared something for each other. In one holiday, it would be Minseok to do something special. And on the next holiday, it would be Luhan's turn. It was always like that and this day was Luhan's day to continue their ritual, and Minseok was disappointed with the fact that his boyfriend was too busy minding his newly acquired scholarship that he forgot all about the said ritual and forgot about his boyfriend and forgot about Valentine's Day.

 

He folded his legs in front of him, hugging it and resting his chin on his knees. He looked at the stars above and thought that at least they were still there, and will always be there – the stars that were always so beautiful. He remembered one certain memory that was filled with laughter and doe, crinkled eyes and beautiful smiles and a lone tear fell from his eye.

 

He laughed at himself. Why was he feeling so sad and why was he crying? Luhan's not perfect and he was never the person who would remember everything and anything under the sun. If Luhan forgot this occasion, why would he be disappointed? If Luhan was not there to accompany Minseok, why would he cry?

 

Minseok told himself again and again not to cry because crying was not good at times like these and because he was a strong person and strong people do not cry because of petty reasons.

 

He buried his face on his knees and sobbed. He told himself that please let me cry just for awhile.

 

This is the very first time that I experienced this.

 

-

 

Minseok never cried even as they grew old. They were in sixth grade now, and they were still attached by the hip.

 

Luhan, on the other hand, was a crybaby and he always whined. He was definitely childish even as he aged, but it was something Minseok found cute and amusing.

 

It was because Minseok loved the feeling of having Luhan in his arms whenever he cried or frowned, and he promised himself to always stay by the other's side forever and ever until the sun bursts and the Earth grows very, very big which would not happen in any lifetime because even before the Earth will grow big, the sun will swallow it first and everyone will die; end of story.

 

In return, Luhan will always make him happy and the both of them will keep their promises to each other.

 

Something special for your special one on every special day, okay? First day would be you, then second day would be me. Promise?

 

I promise.

 

-

 

Minseok woke up because of a gentle ruffle on his hair. He blinked sleepily and rubbed his eyes as he took in his surroundings. He noticed that he fell asleep in the park where he was and that he has slept for nearly an hour.

 

His eyes almost popped out when he saw Luhan looking at him worriedly, panting and flushed.

 

“L-Lulu?” he stammered. Luhan had his hair disheveled and his clothes were so messy and he looked like he just came from a race and it was so unusual and –

 

Luhan pulled Minseok in a tight embrace and peppered kisses on his face.

 

“Oh my god, I am so sorry, Minseok. I am so sorry; really, really sorry. I am so sorry you waited for me. Oh my god and you waited for an hour and it is so cold and you just fell asleep and I know you are freezing right now and why are you eyes red? Oh my god. Was I the cause of this? I am so sorry. So, so, so sorry, Minseok-ah. I –“

 

Minseok, out of desperation, shut Luhan's blabbering with a chaste and lingering kiss. He cupped the other's face as he let go and looked at his watery eyes.

 

Minseok chuckled. “You don't need to say sorry. It's okay. I am okay I –“

 

(It seemed that this day was not only Valentine's Day – it was also interrupt-the-speaker-spree day.)

 

Luhan interrupted her by kissing him softly and he wiped his tears away. Minseok did not notice but while Luhan was blabbering his speech, he started crying again. He realized that the overwhelming feeling of sadness that was gnawing at his heart was too much and he could not take the disappointment clawing his soul.

 

He was sobbing so loud as Luhan peppered kisses on his eyelids, his forehead, his cheeks, his nose, his temple, his head, and everything that was his face.

 

“Shh, shh,” Luhan cooed. He buried Minseok's head on his chest as the other cried his heart out, humming a soft tune the both of them loved since childhood.

 

When Minseok stopped after a few minutes and was currently fighting with his annoying hiccups, Luhan pecked his cheek and chuckled, and Minseok looked at him, offended.

 

“This is the first time you cried,” Luhan said, a soft edge to his voice.

 

Minseok huffed. “I'm still a person. I can cry!” he defended.

 

“Yeah, but 'It’s okay. It does not take much to stand back up and smile again, right? I mean, it won’t harm you to try and walk again, would it?'” Luhan grinned and Minseok scowled.

 

“I am so sorry that I was more mature when I was a child,” he deadpanned.

 

Luhan laughed and buried his face on the other's shoulder. “No, no. I wasn't implying that. What I want to say is... Stop. Don't cry, okay? I don't like seeing you cry and it is so unusual for me. I rather have myself crying than you, okay? So don't cry, hmm? I love seeing you smile because you're the most beautiful when you smile, and I just want to kiss you more.”

 

Minseok glared at Luhan. “Yeah, yeah. I will smile if you did not forget that it's Valentine's Day today and it was your turn to give the gift!” he raised his voice and he was so angry that he did not realize that he blurted out what he was moping about since morning.

 

Luhan had his eyes widened and Minseok was about to apologize when the former laughed. Hard.

 

“Minseok, baby. Really?” He was laughing so hard that Minseok could feel the rumble in his stomach, and it sent the dreaded butterflies to the older's stomach and that laugh is so wonderful and I want to hear it every second of every minute of every hour of every day and night.

 

“What?” He sulked.

 

And he was about to push Luhan away if the other did not give him this... thing.

 

Minseok stared at the bottle Luhan was holding and he blinked continuously like he was on crack or something illegal.

 

Luhan pecked his cheek before explaining. “This,” he pointed to the bottle with his other hand. “Is the reason why I was not here when I came. I know that today is Valentine's Day and I definitely know that it is my turn in our ritual. I was excited this morning not only because of the scholarship but because of this gift I am about to give you. BUT before you say anything, I was supposed to give you this bottle when I dragged you to that empty classroom.”

 

He scratched his head and Minseok nodded, slowly digesting every information given to him.

 

“I only realized as I eased you up the table that I actually forgot this bottle at home and, gosh, I am such an idiot, I again forgot the bottle when I went here to the park. I just realized it after I called you, and I am so sorry you needed to wait for me because I am so stupid and I am really sorry because –“

 

Minseok silenced the other with a finger pressed on his lips.

 

“Shush. You're rambling again. And,” he breathed. “It's okay. It's okay.” He realized that his eyes were starting to water again and his hands were trembling a little bit so he inhaled and exhaled for a few moments before continuing.

 

“And I am so sorry too, Bambi-ah. I felt as if I was selfish awhile ago because I thought you forgot about me and our ritual and Valentine's Day and I thought you were only happy because of the scholarship you got and I felt so sad because I thought everything was over and I felt so weak because I was crying over simple reasons and I don't know but... I don't know.” He sighed again.

 

Luhan smiled an encouraging one. He gently put down the bottle he was holding and said, “C ‘mere, you idiot,” he beckoned Minseok to his arms once more, and the other complied without much thought.

 

Under the starry night, there was a couple hugging and laughing with each other. With smiles on their faces, they whispered three words they always loved to hear from each other's lips.

 

-

 

“What's in the bottle?” Minseok asked as they were both ready to get into bed. They were in Minseok's solo apartment and were about to sleep when Minseok saw the lone bottle on the kitchen table and he was curious about his gift.

 

“Oh the bottle?” Luhan clarified the question as he dragged Minseok under the sheets with him. He wiggled both of them to a comfortable position and hugged the older and pressed their noses together as he answered.

 

“You love stars, don't you?”

 

Minseok nodded.

 

“You would be the most happiest man alive to have them in your hands, right?”

 

Minseok nodded again, slowly this time.

 

“I promised to make you happy, haven't I?”

 

Minseok nodded, and he was about to speak when Luhan started.

 

“I collected paper strips and folded them into tiny stars like the one you love looking at. In each of them contains something I love and adore about you. As you can see, I filled that bottle with lots of stars. I did that because I love you and I want you to be the happiest person alive and I want you to know how much I adore you.”

 

Minseok did not know what to say. He stayed rooted on his spot, millimeters away from Luhan's face, as he blinked back happy tears. He was so happy he cannot even... And it's not because of the stars but because he has the sweetest guy on Earth loving him and he is the luckiest person alive. He thinks that he does not need the stars as long as he has Luhan by his side always.

 

And Luhan has read that message in his lover's eyes because he chuckled and wrapped an arm around his waist and said,

 

“Happy valentines, Kim Minseok. I love you, and I would never, ever, ever leave you. You are the only star of my life and I would never let your light go away.”