You might think it strange that two people so different might be found together outside their houses in the dead of the night, but this sort of occurrence was definitely the norm.

It would seem that Byun Baekhyun, a wealthy, petit and sort of feminine boy, would never be caught dead with gangling, scruffy Park Chanyeol, but every night after their neighbourhoods were asleep, they would meet.

Baekhyun was light; cold, pristine and constant. Chanyeol was fire; smoky, flickering and wavering with warmth.

They met in the field that connected their backyards; that connected Baekhyun’s posh suburbia to Chanyeol’s grunge, forgotten one. The field was, perhaps, a planning error- an extra space that served no purpose.  So, how did two so contrasting teenagers find each other in this abandoned lot? Well, they liked to believe it was fated.

Their meeting was pure destiny: Around the age of 9, they had both been playing in their backyards, when the squeaking of Chanyeol’s dilapidated swing set had excited Baekhyun’s curiosity and drawn him over. From then, they began their nightly rendezvous, becoming closer with each rising moon. They talked about everything; Baekhyun about the brats at his private school and his intolerant parents, and Chanyeol of his dingy public school and its bullies.

They became each other’s sanctuary against cold peers and difficult parents. The problems faced in their daily lives seemed to almost push them into each other’s support every night.

As they hurtled through adolescence, their longing for something less platonic became more apparent. They would often tiptoe over creaking floorboards into Chanyeol’s cozy bedroom. Wandering words became wandering hands, tripping over themselves against warm skin. Aching sighs and coltish gasps speckled the chilling darkness with colour and light.

One night, as they crossed the dewy grass, their eyes locked on a dot of light between them. Soon, another appeared above them. And then another, and another, until the field was illuminated with tiny little fireflies that twinkled like happy little stars. Fire and light intermingled within the fireflies, shining against the blackness like spots of hope.

Chanyeol saw the hope reflected in Baekhyun’s eyes and in the sky and it was absolutely thrilling. This moment, this night, this life was perfect. They felt like the stars themselves had brought them together so that they might admire them amongst the stardust.