‘The brave fool, who advanced the movement of the earth, developed a magnificent idea. Yet he was regarded as insane. Disregarded and disgraced by the people around him, he died a lonely man’s death.’  

‘Why exactly are you telling me this?’

Sehun took another long drag of his cigarette before letting out a puff of smoke. Lu Han turned his face to look at Sehun and looked intently at his face for any emotion. All he saw was a faraway look in his face which intrigued him deeply.

It was one he had never seen before.

Lu Han watched as the cigarette lay forgotten in Sehun’s hand. He watched as it turned into nothing but ashes. Sehun lightly tapped his hand and Lu Han turned away just as a gust of wind carried the dust along with it.

‘From dust and ashes we are made out of. Yet instead of turning into stars, we were moulded into these imperfect beings. In accordance to Copernicus’ Breath, I live and one day I hope to turn back into stardust. I hope that one day I can become part of Copernicus’ constellation. This is what I believe in.’

‘I never realised you thought this deeply about the universe.’

‘Well I have to, don’t I, Lu Han? It won’t be long before the smoking will kill me.’

Lu Han lay back on the pavement and sighed before saying, ‘Then give up this filthy habit and get your life back on track.’

Sehun laughed, a hysterical sort of laugh, and started to gasp for air. Before long, his laughing fit turned into half-choked sobs.

‘Because no one cares about me, Lu Han. No one cares if I suddenly drop dead one day or if I die from lung cancer. It doesn’t matter to anyone because apparently all I am to anyone is a ing pile of trash that doesn’t deserve to live.’

Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Han could see Sehun and watched as Sehun pushed the last remains of his cigarette against his hand and watched as the ash singed his skin. Sehun doesn’t even flinch.

Lu Han watched all this with a carefully guarded mask yet inside him all he thought about is that with every drag of those damn cigarettes Sehun takes, he’s letting Sehun damage himself beyond repair. He knows, he really does, and he knows he should stop him. But all he cares about is not breaking the fragile bond he has created between himself and his first friend.

And so, Lu Han gazed back up at the dim, night sky while Sehun sat there motionless, staring into shadow. For Lu Han, this had been a suffocating night where he chose friendship over doing the right thing and prayed he hasn’t made the wrong decision.

For Sehun, this was just another night in his endless darkness.

Credits to ≶Selcouth≷ for the amazing poster!