"Hurry hurry."

"I know I know calm down I’m going as fast as I can."

"The faster we get up the better."

"I know I know."

”___ yah if you go too slow we’re going to miss the meteorites.”

"Sungyeol I kn- Ack!"

You released your tight grip on the railing as it pulled from its previous bearings, bending as if it was nothing more than a twig. You felt the familiar sensation of weightlessness as your foot scuffed off the step and into the air. Your other hand, which was previously holding a flashlight, freed itself from its burden and the metal object rolled down the steps with a few heavy clicks. Small panic crept into your mind as you grasped for the metal rungs, and yet there was a sense of relaxation, almost laziness, as you toppled backward. Though you squinted your eyes closed within seconds you were wrapped in security, caught safely by your companion. You landed with a thump, the impact significantly lightened by his interference. This sent him stumbling a few steps backwards, just barely keeping himself from falling off the scaffolding himself.

"Careful!" Sungyeol, your accompaniment for the night, gave you a light hearted smile as he looked down at you. "You’re so clumsy. What are you nervous?" He teased as you felt your face burn. But you were quite unsure whether it was burning with defiance or embarrassment.

"I-It’s your fault," You protested in a voice almost uncharacteristically whiny, "You were telling me to hurry anyways." Almost immediately afterwards you contorted your face into a frown, which received a massive smirk in return. "Don't look at me like that!" You wanted to scream, but you held your tongue to save yourself from further humiliation.

That kind of cuteness was really not your type of thing, and yet you found yourself uttering such nonsense every once in awhile. It was downright embarrassing when it happened and you dreaded it even more in that moment. He could tell it too and you knew him better to assume that he would just let it slide.

"Since when have you been so good at aegyo?" Sungyeol pestered.

"Don’t expect it," You shot back as you flicked him lightly on the head.

He pouted slightly, and complained to you, “___-ah if you’re gonna be like that I might as well drop you.”

"W-What?" Before you could even blink he had feigned letting you fall and you squealed as you wrapped your arms around his neck to keep from being dumped on the floor, goose bumps prickling up and down your arms.

Sungyeol let out a snort as he held onto you no differently than he had before, leaving you cursing him for such a trick. “If you keep this up I might not be able to resist myself.” He kissed you on the forehead and let you down gently, a staunch difference to the way he had threatened to put you down a moment ago. You felt the spot where his lips touched tingle slightly and you barely held back from cracking a smile.

"Damnit!" You shouted as he began pushing you back up the metal steps, forcing the flashlight back into your hand. "I’ll get you back for that one Lee Sungyeol you just wait."

"I’d like to see you try!" He chimed in from behind you and snickered.

While your words were harsh in reality your face was still burning like a forest fire, this time because your bad habit of becoming flustered rose to the surface at his intimate gesture. Every time he did something romantic or even a little bit flirty, you just couldn’t help but want to sink into his embrace and never leave it. You cursed this flaw of yours, yet it always made you dizzy with bubbling happiness so in a way you never wanted it to leave.

The staircase clinked as you headed up flight after flight, the silence between you only due to your determination to reach the top. But before long you were gasping for breath. Your stamina was shot. One look over to Sungyeol and you realized he was breathing heavily as well, however at a guess you figured he could go on. Not wanting to be a burden you kept moving, envious of his idol-quality body.

"How many floors are there on this building anyways," You could hear him complain from behind you as he abruptly stopped, trying to muster up enough energy to keep going. Your legs took the short refrain as a signal that they could be done. They quickly buckled and you went down with the weight of a rock. Sungyeol’s eyes widened slightly in concern at your abrupt collapse, but you gave him a small wave as you measured your heart beat with your other hand. The rise and fall of your chest was heavy and your lungs felt like they were overstretched balloons, and yet you refused to let something as trivial as your physical lacking get in the way of a perfect evening. At the same time you felt immensely grateful that he was worried about you. His face molded into and expression of true compassion, even though you were being annoying by having to stop.

Once you had gotten back enough of your air to talk you exhaled, “Sorry I’m just not nearly as fit as I should be.”

"Have you been cutting out on exercise again?" He chided as he poked your side and you had to hold in your breath to keep from squealing. Big talk considering he was a pretty bad offender as well. You whipped around and gave him a hearty bop on the head. He rubbed it, knowing the retaliation was well deserved. Your previous feelings of gratitude soon dissolved behind your light annoyance at his teasing.

"Its not that i have a choice! The shop has been keeping me busy full time!"

"But you still made time for me?" Sungyeol’s eyes raised expectantly.

"W-well yes of course i did. I rearranged some things and it just means I’ll have to work a little when i get home… And that I have to cut out some time for things like working out and playing games... But its not like you exactly have a lot of freetime so i wanted to utilize this time… I mean because like you're more important that all that though and it can wait just a little bit for you and so yeah I just have to wrok a little harder later because it doesn't matter because I'm with you and... and..." You stuttered out realizing only too late that you had gone off on a tangent. This was a typical thing for you to do and yet you always felt like you were taking up too much time with your talking when you did. You would quickly became self conscious whenever it would happen.

"Hey hey slow down. You’re trying too hard again, ___ yah." Sungyeol swooped down to kneel beside you and wrapped his arms around you, much to your dismay. It was true though, you had put maybe a little too much effort into planning the date. But to be fair you and Sungyeol almost never got to spend time together, so naturally you wanted it to go smoothly and make the greatest memories out of the little bit of time. Because he was an idol you were practically dating in secret and so night was really the only safe time to be with him. As an extra safety precaution the two of you had chosen an old abandoned apartment complex to watch the annual meteor shower this time. You had every minute planned out and there was no way for the night to be ruined. Yet, you found yourself completely ripping up the plan you had in your mind as the night went on. Sungyeol always had a way of being a plan wrecker, changing everything and going ‘off the path’ at the very last moment. But that was one of the few things you found absolutely irresistible about him.

"But," He continued with a slight look of satisfaction twinkling in his eye,"I can’t say I dont find it adorable when you do that." He snickered a bit knowing his tone would quickly get a retaliation. Yet you were far from protesting. You even felt a little happy that he seemed to appreciate your extra effort. While you thought it to be an embarrassing trait of yours, he always put it into such a light that made you seem more charming.

Suddenly you cried out flashing back to the problem at hand, “R-really is this the time to do this? We might fall.”

"We won’t fall. Besides I’m not letting you go. You’re just too cute."

"Stop saying I’m cute. Aish, we’ll never get to the top at this rate."

"Oh right," Sungyeol murmered pensively as he finally let you go,"But can you even keep going? Its ok we can just watch the meteor shower from here." There was a trace of disappointment in his voice, however it was you that was more disappointed. You didn’t want to just let him down like that, plus you also wanted to see the meteors from the best place possible. Yet your legs seemed to want to make these things impossible for you.

"I can keep going. At least… I have to. I said I’d go up to the top and thats what I’m going to do. I just… need to stop being so weak."

"But you’re too tired to walk aren’t you? You shouldn’t push yourself too hard." Sungyeol’s brows furrowed as if he was thinking hard then he returned to his smiling face. "___! What if i carried you on my back?"

"No i couldn’t make you do that!" You exclaimed, surprised. You were slightly doubtful he could carry you at all, let alone up the rest of the way up the building, but mostly you didnt want to have the embarrassment of him have to carry you like a child.

"Whatever, I’m going to anyways. Besides theres not much time left. Here." He turned around and gestured for you to get on his back.

You rolled your eyes. “Sungyeol i can’t. What if you get exhausted.”

"Come on I can do it. Just think of me as a giant bird."

"What?"

"Like a great big falcon."

"What are you on about?"

With that he made a giant screeching sound, less reminiscent of a falcon and more of a banshee. You couldn’t help but laugh and shake your head at his foolishness.

“Fine fine,” You agreed as you extended your arms and pulled yourself onto his back. You made a small bird sound trying to imitate his and gave him a little squeeze to tell him he could go.

"That was weak. I’ve heard you be louder than that before!" He stated as he began to carry you up the steps. You weren’t sure whether that was eluding to the fact that you got a little too excited sometimes, or he was making a inuendo at your expense but you took it as a challenge anyways. To pay him back you made the loudest screech you could.

"Daebak!" He vocalized followed by his usual blithe laughter. Soon you found yourself joining in adding to your own personal chorus of bliss. You clung to Sungyeol’s shoulders as you laughed. You were somwhat afraid of loosing your grip due to your giggles, and yet the more you could feel the warmth of his body, the steady rise and fall of his chest, the steadfastness of his weight carrying yours, the more you felt at ease with everything. It made it easier to laugh. All the stress of your work, your daily life melted away into the night, leaving only Sungyeol, you and the city lights.

You were off in your own world where nothing could even remotely bother you or rip you from it. Before long, you realized, you could see the small line of night sky that signaled the top of the apartment. The mortar crumbling and the bricks chipped, the rooftop was obviously worse for wear, probably dessicated from years of weather erosion. Yet, you could feel your face light up and your mouth curl into a smile as if you had found an oasis in the desert.

"Sungyeol look we’re almost there!" You rejoiced. Suddenly you felt your legs being filled with energy and you began arbitrarily struggling to get down from your date’s back. The brown haired idol was caught off guard and dropped you in sheer confusion. The second your feet touched the ground you could feel them pushing off again and leaping up to another step. "Race you to the top!" You yelled as you pushed Sungyeol to the side to pass him as you bounded up the staircase.

"Hey no fair!" He called as you heard his footsteps pounding up the stairs behind you. Determined to beat him, rushed with the thought of seeing the beautiful view, you picked up pace, practically sprinting to the top.

The cool air felt refreshing ,after overheating from the sudden activity, as you vaulted over the last step and up onto the top off the roof. You felt the last bit of air in your lungs leave you as your world seemed to expand before you and into the sky.

The bright stars above were thrown across a contrastingly dark atmosphere, meeting up with a reflecting, but much more numerous, illuminated landscape: the city of Seoul turning to a meandering forest of buildings, neon and stop lights. All of this came together, seamlessly wrapping around a full circle, endless and awe inspiring. Your mouth opened in gaping amazement as you stared around at the spectacle before your eyes. It was so much beauty to take in and yet you seemed to just ravish in it, not at all bothered by the vastness of the surroundings. You couldn’t stop gazing at it like it never grew tiresome, the gaudy lights and the never ending stretch of buildings displayed out before you like a shopkeeper displays his merchandise before the customer and you, the customer of a cityscape seemingly placed only for your enjoyment. The beauty only stopped you for a second as you wanted to delve into the moment as soon as you could and within a blink of an eye you were already running towards the center of the rooftop. As you reached the center you skid to a halt before starting to spin mindlessly, your skirt flowing out in a full flower. You hummed in glee as the lights around you began to change to no more than blurry yellow lines.

You heard Sungyeol’s footsteps coming up from behind you as he looked around making a little “Ah!” in amazement. “It’s like I’m on the top of the world!” He roared and proceeded to make a extremely loud shout at the top of his lungs. But that wasn’t anything new to you. Besides you were too busy spinning to care.

"Sungyeol isn’t beautiful?" You cheered as you continued twirling and laughing.  

"Ah stop twirling for a second! Hey i said stop!" You could hear Sungyeol yelp but immediately chuckle afterwards from an unknown direction. But you refused to stop. You were having too much fun. You could only imagine the pouting face he was giving you at that moment, probably frustrated that you were paying more attention to your twirling than to him.  Without any warning, you felt yourself collide with a body. Head spinning and completely dizzy it took you a moment to realize that the person you had run into was, of course, Sungyeol.

"Dizzy…" You muttered, stumbling back, away from the object of collision. The sudden stop caused you to become lightheaded before you knew it. You never did fare well with vertigo or the like and soon enough you realized you had thrown yourself off. As you took your last step back you felt your foot twist from under you in your disjunction and before long you were falling backwards again. But as soon as this had come to occur, just as quickly you felt the warm feeling of a hand wrapping around your arm and pulled you staggering forward. You were pulled straight back into your companion, your face practically colliding with his chest. For a brief moment you were stunned, unsure about what was happening exactly, until the whole moment came crashing down upon you in tidal waves. As his arms wrapped around you and you could feel the steady flow of his breath tickling the top of your head and the warmth of his chest against yours and suddenly your senses were able to sort out the situation themselves. 

“Still being clumsy? You’re ridiculous,” He chided tenderly and let his lips brush over the top of your head.

You felt your entire existence relaxed in the warmth of his arms as if suddenly nothing bad could happen. Any more and all traces of anxiety flew from your mind. You blinked slowly as you looked up at him, a slight smile tracing his lips as he looked down at you. He held you’re gaze like he held your hand, gently but with the stubbornness of not letting you leave it. Almost immediately you felt your skin grow hot and yet this time it felt mildly pleasant, like a welcomed embarrassment. Even the slightest physical contact with him made shivers run up and down your spine leaving you helpless in his arms.

Your eyes drifted from his perfect smiling lips to eyes that seemed to hold only kindness to the soft curve of his cheeks to his chin that made you want to cup his face within your hand. You were so entranced that you hardly heard the words that came out of your own mouth as you muttered “You should talk choding boy.” You continued to stare, the stars behind him blending and becoming blurry as you waited for his reply.

The only thing that was really clear in your mind was his presence. How you missed it when he was gone, when you two would go for weeks on end without seeing each other. How you would stare at pictures of him, magazine articles, tv programs with a vast longing for his company at every chance you got. But now he was in front of you, in the flesh, still as perfect as you could ever hope for.

Yet for a moment you could see a flicker of regret in his eyes, his smile waning for just a short moment. You realized it had to be because of your comment, the word you called him jokingly in itself a sore subject to him. With this your mind cleared, just enough to bring full confidence back into his eyes. You wiggled your arms out from his grasp and placed your hands along his shoulders comfortingly, meanwhile virtually measuring where his face had changed in the brief moment of your faux pas.

“Sungyeol, you know I’m just joking. Even if you’re image isn’t always taken seriously, you are one of the most wonderful men I have ever met and I would never trade that for anything. Not even for the most mature, seductive or cool man on earth. No one.”

“Aw hey, are you saying I’m not mature, seductive or cool?” He joked but you could tell he was trying to brush off the fact that you just pointed out his insecurity. Yet, you almost sighed in relief as his liveness seemed to return to his face and voice.

"Well i never said that,” You chimed as you ran your hand tenderly through his bangs, lightly sweeping them to the side. "Because if you weren’t I wouldn’t want you so much all the time."

"You want me? I mean," Sungyeol coughed trying to seem collected but in vain,"O-of course you do"

"Of course I do," You repeated, slowly sinking back into your dream like state. Sungyeol chuckled a little as he took your hand in his possession and interlaced his fingers between yours. He leaned towards you and pressed his forehead up against yours, his breath tickling your upper lip. It felt like an eternity, suspended in mid space as he waited there, staring directly into your eyes. As if he was waving a checkered flag, he closed his eyes along with the small gap between the two of you to initiate the gesture. You could feel every fiber of your being screaming in excitement and yet also seemed to leave you for a moment, leaving your body impossibly limp. At the same time it was a welcomed sensation, as all you wanted to do was be carried away by it. Your eyes drooped closed as you two stood there beneath the stars.

It ended all too soon, but still you found yourself breathing heavily as you parted, exhausted by just the small contact. You blinked the haziness out of your eyes once more and beamed up at the man who was so dear to you, even more entranced by his kindly smiling face. Your heart was filled with pure love and admiration for the person standing before you, the emotions inside of you filling you so full that you could overflow.

Out of the corner of your eye you saw a light streak across the sky and by the way Sungyeol’s eye seemed to trace in the same direction you could tell he had noticed it too. He hesitated for a moment before noting “Its starting.” It took you a moment to realize what exactly he meant by that, yanking yourself out of your hazy bubble, but soon you had remembered the reason you were there in the first place: The meteor shower. You looked up in the sky to see another streak of light fly by, only to disappear within seconds.

Getting your youthful vigor back almost as if nothing had happened, you grinned and tugged on Sungyeol’s hand. “Lets go watch it!” You appealed to him as you began dragging him to the edge of the building. You paused as you neared the edge, slightly intimidated by the thought of falling, but while the drop was steep the thrill of sitting there, able to see the full view of the skyline, made it worth the worry. You felt his hand close around yours a little tighter the closer you got to the edge. Was someone so careless really getting nervous over such a thing? You were about to on the matter, however he caught you off guard first.

“You better not fall  ___ or I’d have to kill you. Then the other members would kill me.”

You thought back to the members for a moment, which was slightly odd as you had been thinking about solely one of them for the whole night. In fact you almost had forgotten he was in a group at all. Though the other six members were very dear to you, Sungyeol’s radiance seemed to block out the others on occasion. But it wasn’t too much of a worry for you. You felt like he deserved a bit of attention, considering he was almost never the lime light catcher of the group. Besides it was only right you gave your boyfriend more attention than your boyfriends’ friends. You wondered for a moment how they would react if you did end up falling, slightly grim thoughts surfacing. You dwelled on it for a short time but eventually you had to shoo the thought away. The anxiety of it was getting to you. You never were particularly afraid of heights and yet the mere thought of distressing people like that made you feel like you had full on acrophobia.

“I’ll be careful then.” You gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “You be careful too.” You added as you pulled him closer to you trying to reassure him that nothing bad would happen. You plopped down on the side of the building, youre feet dangling off the edge. Due to the fact you were wearing a skirt the summer breeze seemed to tickle your legs, however you barely noticed this over the spectacular view before you. Sungyeol took a seat beside you, still grasping your hand tightly in his. Although it was slightly uncomfortable, it also gave you a bit of reassurance. Almost as if he were saying to you “I won’t let you go no matter what”.

You pointed up as you saw another streak of light in the sky. “They’re so beautiful,” You breathed out lightly as you scooted a bit closer to the one beside you for warmth. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly and he ruffled your hair. “Say,” You suddenly asked,” You know constellations right?”

“Psh of course I do,” He boasted unconvincingly. 

“What is that star part of then?”

“That I think it’s Cygnus.”

“And that one’s Aquilla right?”

“Yeah, that sounds right. Hey you know them pretty well too what do you need me for?”

“No no I don’t really know them at all. When I was a kid my dad would point them all out to me because he was really into that kind of thing. So i picked up a few, but I still need people to tell me most of them.”

“My dad did too. I guess we grew up similarly in that way.”

“Yeah maybe.” Once again you saw a shooting star skipping across the sky. “There’s so many. The only time I remember seeing as many as this was when I was a kid!”

“I bet I can spot more than you can tonight,” Sungyeol snickered

“No way I’ve already found, like, 4 you can’t beat that.”

“I bet I can. Plus I have the best motive.”

“And what might that be?”

“The more shooting stars you see the more wishes you get!”

“I don’t think it works like that. With meteor showers I think you only get one wish.” You wondered to yourself why it mattered anyways, the wishes weren’t real so who were you to say he couldn’t have as many as he wanted?

“Aw come on. Can’t you give me… just three?”

“Hey, I don’t grant wishes I have no control over how many you get.”

“Well then how about we both get three. We’ll make a deal with fate this once,” He gave you a big smile with that statement and turned to face you almost completely. You weren’t a particularly strong believer in fate, but you did figure there was something out there, something that would hear your innocent pact.

“Deal,” You grinned and looked back up at the stars. They almost felt hypnotizing as you looked up at the endless sky. Below you saw the expansive city scape, as if you had been inserted into some kind of photograph, only, placed right in the skyline. Relaxed at the view once more, you lay your head lightly on Sungyeol’s shoulder. “Why did you need three wishes anyways? What are the three things?”

Sungyeol lightly ran his fingers through your hair affectionately, as he always did when he was feeling particularly attached. “I cant tell you that! It won’t come true then!”

"Hmpf you can tell me can’t you?"

"Well maybe just you. But if you tell someone else I’ll know who told them and I will hunt you down," He taunted

"Ok i promise," You lifted your head up and held out your pinky to him. "And in return I’ll tell you my wishes first." His face seemed to light up a little bit at that comment, probably because you were an oyster when it came to telling secrets about yourself, but at the time you felt like you would be willing to tell him the secrets to the universe if you knew them. Sungyeol linked his finger quickly with yours and sealed the pact.

"My first wish…" You took a deep breath wondering what you wanted after all, "Is um… My first wish would be for my business to be successful this year."

"Always so interested in your business” Sungyeol teased as he rolled his eyes. “Of course your business will be successful this year! I believe in you!"

"You’re sweet. I hope so."

“If you can’t make it in this world then there’s sure as hell no chance for the rest of us. Now what else?”

"Hm well it’d be kinda nice to get a chance to meet BTS."

"What? Why? Why would you need to meet another group, a rookie group, when you already have us?" You could see the jealousy on Sungyeol’s face as you mentioned the younger idols. He knew that you were a fan of the groups music, but you had always made sure to give him the impression that you liked INFINITE more.

"I was just joking Sungyeol," You giggled as he fell for such an obvious trick. "Ok for real my second wish is a chance to travel the world."

"Oh." His face lightened up. "Thats a good wish. Maybe we can travel together sometime," He stated affectionately as he nuzzled into your shoulder.

"I’d like that. Where would you like to go?"

"Maybe Thailand. I really like it there. Or maybe somewhere tropical. I’d want to see all the wild animals!"

"That sounds fun. I guess now mine seems a little less glamourous."

"Huh where were you thinking?"

"Well… I’ve always wanted to go to England.”

“Thats glamorous enough. They have such cool architecture and stores and those guys with the fuzzy hats that never change expression. Is that why you want to go?”

“Well, yes, but also I think it would be good for business…”

Sungyeol’s brows furrowed a bit. The type of almost unnoticeable expression that people use when they are trying to hide the obviously blatant regret they have in their mind. But you noticed. He was unmistakably sad for the briefest of moments. However he tried to cover it up as soon as it had come.  “Yah, you really doonly care about your business these days, ___,” He complained.  

“What else should i be doing during the day?”

"Be mine?" He proposed innocently. You knew he was joking by bringing up his groups hit song, and yet you couldn’t help shake that there was a little twinge of truth in his statement.

You rolled your eyes and replied, "Yeah well being yours doesn’t exactly bring in any income… Not that it should. I’m not a e.”

"Ah you’re right. You’re not even close to a e. You're much better than that. Just... don’t get too involved ok?” He hugged you tightly as if the tighter he held on to you the more likely your gaze wouldn’t leave his. What he had said basically screamed ‘pay more attention to me’ and you were divided between the feeling of strong annoyance at his controlling attitude and strong empathy at his loneliness.

“And what about you Mr.Idol boy extraordinaire? You’re life is the epitome of involved.” Honestly his idol life made you slightly nervous. A lifestyle like that took away a person completely. It had the potential to burn out a person within the bat of an eye and while Sungyeol was one of the most energetic people you knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever. More importantly it was driving you farther and farther away from him. But yet you understood his desire to be the best he could, a common driving force that you two had between you. While he would do anything to be a better idol, you would do anything to grow and make it big as an entrepreneur.

“Yeah but it’s only during comebacks,” He whined to you. But he realized your worry and gave you a another squeeze to try and reassure you. It didn’t quite make you feel better about the situation you appreciated the gesture. “Alright well i promise to take it easy sometimes if you promise.”

You hardly thought before answering, “Promise.” It was almost an automatic response. You answered what he wanted to hear and not what you were truly feeling. It was the same thing that you always had done when someone who was expecting something from you or someone you looked up to asked you a question. You found that giving people what they wanted always made them much happier. You knew deep down that you could never keep such a promise, you being who you were, and you knew he would never be able to keep the promise, him being who he was. But you made it as easily as you could blink with only a small regret about the matter.

“That brings me to my last wish i guess. I hope that you and Infinite stay together as one happy family from years to come. I wish nothing but the best for you guys. I would hate to see such a wonderful group broken up. As idols and just as friends in general.”

Sungyeol just stared at you in some kind of shock, which you were at a loss as to why. Had you said something wrong? You didn’t think so, but he sure seemed to be acting as if you had just told him that elephants were small, Woohyun didn’t wear insoles, and Kim Byungman was the kaiser of germany. Instead of claiming you had done something wrong, however, he burst out, “You would use your last wish on us staying together?”

"W-well of course," You stuttered out a little shocked at his own surprise. Its not like wanting the best for them was anything unusual to those that were close to the group.

You recalled once meeting Nam Boohyun, Woohyun’s brother, when he visited around new years. One thing he told you particularly stood out and lingered in your mind even to that day. "It's funny how people who are close to idols start to ease into their life styles. We all want them to succeed. Even their siblings, like me, who are a little jealous. If they ever had to stop being idols one day, it woud be just as devastating for us. Besides the obvious fact that we care about their happiness, they're also living out the fame that we have always dreamed of as children. Their lives affect us as much as it does to them. To take away that would mean to vastly change ours as well."

You didn’t understand quite then what he meant then, but now you could see it as transparently as glass. “Why is that so shocking?” You asked him sincerely and followed the question by chuckling a little bit nervously.

“It’s… Well it’s so considerate of you. Thank you so much ___.” Sungyeol looked at you as if his whole heart was overflowing through his eyes. That gentle expression he got when he looked at his fans. The expression he wore when you you would wake up beside him in the morning wrapped in blankets and snuggled against him.

You wondered if he really understood that wishes were just fake by the way he was talking, but you guessed that it wasn’t even about the wishes anymore. “Sungyeol you know I would do anything if it meant you would be happy.” Just the mention of you looking out for his best interest seemed to make him so happy, you almost wondered if his tendency towards low self esteem made him think that nobody cared for him. Yet, you knew this wasn’t the case. Surely he would have noticed the thousand of fans who would spill their hearts out to him. Surely he knew that everyone wanted Infinite to succeed. He didn’t need you to assure him of that.

“Thank you... that really means alot to me. And I’m sure the other members would agree. Maybe you should tell them that sometime. I think it would help a lot.” The uncharacteristically serious expression Sungyeol carried threw you off a bit. You say this side of him rarely, and yet you found that it arose when he was closest to his true self.

The way his profile was outlined before you, his perfect lips barely moving to form the words he was speaking, the furrow in his brow that made you want to hug him to death. All of this made your heart cry out for him and yet you took in the moment, cherishing it as if it were the last candy you had taken from home on a long trip overseas. But before you could savor it too much it was gone with a few blinks of his long beautiful lashes. “Plus…” He started with a new, mischievous smirk on his face. “It’ll just prove to them that I have the most considerate and perfect girlfriend in the world! I bet they’ll be so jealous they won’t know what hit them!” He snickered and wrapped his right arm around your shoulders.

“You’re stupid!” You gave him a light nudge with the shoulder closest to him, meanwhile feeling your face heat up a little at the sudden close contact. “But now it’s your turn. 3 wishes. Go.” You were curious to what his wishes were. Not because you felt like he owed you but to find out the things that would truly make him happy.

“Oh yeah,” Sungyeol said and you questioned whether he seriously forgot or had just been stalling. “Well my first wish is the same as your third. I want Infinite to say together for as long as the moon shines and for our fans to become as numerous as the stars.”

“Wow that was surprisingly deep for you Sungyeol,” You chuckled. You reflected for a moment just how important Infinite must be for him. It was his whole life, well besides the small part that you held possession of. The vastness that was being an idol, the way it seemed to take control of everything it came into contact with, you could never measure up to anything like that. You were just a grain of rice in comparison to the massive ever expanding tree that was the idol system. It made you feel impossibly small. You couldn’t help but resent it from taking away your boyfriend from you. Yet the fact that he was living out his dream made you fill with warmth. Boohyun was right, his life as an idol was just as important to you as it was to him.

“Hey I can be deep when I feel like it. I’m even deeper than L sometimes you know,” He bluffed as he sat up a little straighter and puffed out his chest, reminding you a bit of the pigeon you saw on the street just earlier that day.

“Too bad you never feel like it,” You taunted half-heartedly, you mind still hung on his idol life. “Next wish then,” You prompted him almost without a care.

“For us to stay together forever,” he declared proudly,”I don’t ever want to let go of my ___.”

“Then don’t ever let me go,” You whispered softly, hardly able to keep your voice steady. Already vulnerable, a full spectrum of emotion hit you like a of a sword and you quickly felt your eyes burn with the desire to produce tears. As unrealistic as the wish was it couldn’t help but bring a smile to you face, yet at the same time left a small drop of doubt inside. He had told you that he wanted to be with you forever, which was more of a meaningful gesture to you than perhaps it should have been. It made you feel so loved and your heart nearly cried out in thanks to him.

But at same time it made your mind fear for the time that you would meet a separation. Such an uncharted territory made you want to stop the journey at first glance. But you knew the time would be inevitable. As far as the present you wanted to cherish the time you had together, because you never knew when it would end.

“No, don’t ever, ever, let me go.” You said as you wrapped your arm around his as if you suddenly had a need for physical contact for fear of him leaving you. You buried your head in his shoulder and closed your eyes tightly, trying not to think too much about you steadily increasing worries.  

Sungyeol patted your head his concern showing through his actions. “Hey are you doing alright?” He asked you. You were sure that he had noticed youre almost-breakdown before as much as you tried to hide it. You were just grateful enough that let you have your pride by not pointing out the sudden hopeless look on your face.

"Yeah I’m fine. Whats your next wish?" You tried to cheer yourself up by keeping the conversation going.

“My last wish is for the next year to be a year worth making memories. I want to experience everything I can as an idol and just as a human being… A-as well…” He hesitated looking at you almost as if asking for reassurance. “I want to be become someone who people can respect. Instead of just some dumb kid. I want to be able to protect people, to protect you….” He trailed off. As much as you wanted to tell him that he was fine already, you knew he needed to get something off his chest. By the way his hand seemed to close around yours tighter than before, you knew something was on his mind. “___ , I know I don’t spend nearly enough time with you. But I promise from now on I’ll make more time, even if it means I don’t get any sleep. I want to be a better boyfriend to you. I don’t want you ever to feel alone.”

You were taken aback by his comment. As far as you knew he had done nothing wrong and he was already more than respect worthy. Yes, you had little time when you two could see each other but you both had busy schedules. That wasn’t his fault. Yes, you worried that someday his idol life would overcome your importance, but that was your own problem right? Your worries had nothing to do with his validation as a person or even a lover. You were more than happy just being able to call him yours. You unraveled from his arm and took his hand sending a pulse through it to get his attention. Just as he turned his head to look at you, you leaned over and planted soft kiss on his lips. When you parted however you stayed, hovering very close to his face.

"Sungyeol, you’re crazy," You reprimanded him with the extreme delicacy of someone speaking a secret,"You can’t wish for something that you already have. You don’t even know how many people respect you and look up to you. Including me." You only felt your heart cry more as his face flinched at those words. Did he not believe you? Or was he just too deluded to understand the truth behind what you were saying? Perhaps it was both. You only wished he could be more confident with himself but you couldn’t even tell if your intentions were reaching him. "A-And listen," You mentioned a little disheartened by his reaction, "Were both busy so please don’t put it on yourself. Besides…" You paused as you cupped his face in your hand, forcing him to look you in the eye. "I could never and will never be alone knowing that I’m the one you’re thinking of."

He sighed and placed his hand gently over yours. Despite the chilly breeze his hand was warm against your cold one. You rubbed your thumb against his face comfortingly until he pulled your hand away. You missed the smooth texture of his skin after your hand had parted with his face yet you knew Sungyeol needed some space in that moment. You could feel your face contorting into a look of despair, despite your best efforts, as you wondered if this would mean the ruin of your date. Yet Sungyeol didn’t look mad or even exasperated. His eyes were now fixated on you, staring with the affection of a mother deer to her newborn fawn. He took your hand in both of his and squeezed them tightly.

"Even so i promise to try harder ok?" He asked you expectantly. You were about to protest but when you took a good look at him you saw the unadulterated determination on his face. You gave into his stare as your shoulders relaxed back.

"Ok. Thank you for caring so much about me. Just please dont end up hurting yourself."

"What makes you think I’d do that? I can handle anything." The end of his sentence seemed to fall off leaving you to question his conviction behind it. By the way he would always work himself to the bone for his group, even to the point of making himself sick, you had reason to worry how he might do that same for your sake. That was the last thing you ever wanted.

"Promise me you wont push yourself too hard."

"But-"

"Sungyeol." Your hawk-like gaze quickly sought after his and you stared him down in a no-ifs-ands-or-buts manor.

"I-I promise you." He said finally letting out a small breath of air.

"Pinky promise?" You held out your smallest finger to him in the ritual that was all too familiar to you. You spoke as if almost daring him to make the promise, when in reality you knew that nothing was sealed by a mere handshake. Still, the sentiment always made you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Sungyeol grinned the spirit of his usual vivacious personality coming back to him. Childish games always meant a sense of calming, of things that were returning to their original casual nature. In the same way you felt like your worries from before had simply rolled off your back and into the air below you, flying away to go find someone else to trouble. Your moods significantly lifted, you decided to turn your attention back to the stars.

You questioned the legitimacy of wishes for a second: If they really did grant wishes and if so why only some of them came true. How many peoples deepest desires were carried on the tails of the magnificent spheres only to be whisked away. The ones you had wished on were long gone by now and yet the wishes still held value to you and him and the other thousands of people who had wished upon stars that night. Would the wishes you had asked for really come true? Or was it just a sentiment like any jaded adult would tell you. Youre eyes traced along the pathway of another celestial comet as you breathed out slowly.

As a gust of wish buffeted you, slicing through your thin jacket like a knife, you snuggled up to Sungyeol as closely as you could, dropping your head down onto his shoulders and sinking into bliss. He noticed but only after a short while and wrapped his arm around you to pull you even closer.

"Are you getting tired?"

"Yeah, and a little cold… Its been a bit of a long week for me."

"Yeah me too. But Im glad youre here to relax me."

"Likewise."

A long silence ensued, both of you staring up at the sky with the large round eyes of children. Full of wonder and questions. Willing to accept anything and reject nothing.

"Its a little unfortunate isn’t it," Sungyeol spoke up, breaking the silence. "All of these meteors are being burned up by the earths atmosphere as we speak. We only see them seconds before they’re gone forever."

You thought about it for a second, admittedly he had a good point. It was such a fleeting beauty never to be seen again. There was something in it that made it just sibylline. Nearly as if you had not seen the dozens of stars depart from the sky that night, but that youre mind was playing tricks on you. By the time your mind could process the great silver fey as you saw them flitting across the sky, they were already gone.

You pondered the phenomenon a loud, a little unsure yet much more comfortable letting your train of thought run through your mouth. “Yes that’s true. It’s a little sad how you only see them for such a short time. They are gone before you know it. But… That also makes it that much more special… right?”

“What are you even talking about?”

“Well, we know that we will only be able to see them for such a short time and so that just makes us cherish the moment even more.” Sungyeol’s slightly nodding head gave you the impression that he was understanding where you were coming from. You continued, “If we saw them too much we’d get tired of them, so in a way their beauty is how short lived they are.”

Sungyeol nodded deftly and grinned. “Oh I see.”

"And even though they’re gone we can still remember each exact one we saw."

In the same way that a child will still ask opposing questions to his mother when she presents him a fact they both know as true, Sungyeol asked you “But will we really remember the stars forever after theyre gone?”

"I don’t ever think i can ever forget the stars we’ve seen tonight." You nodded reassuringly, tracing your finger along a string of stars. A silence ensued after that, the only sound to be heard was the equal breathing pattern the two of you were making. It gave you time to think which was time that you didn’t exactly desire.

He finally spoke after what seemed to be a millenium. “_____?” His voice was just a bit above of a rocket’s yet lower than the buzz of a humming bird’s.

"Yeah?"

Instead of an answer he gave you an action as he grasped for your hand, holding it palm up as he forced a silver chain into your possession. On the end was a pendant shaped into a mobius strip. It was made of light, bright silver. Along the bottom edge there were 3 small pink stones.

"I-is this for me?"

He nervously nodded. “Y-yeah I bought it since i can’t normally see you. So that you’ll always have me with you even when I’m not there. Think of it as me giving… giving some of my love to you! So you can just carry it around in case you had a bad day or youre scared or you just… miss… me…”

"Thank you." You breathed out trying not to tear up. You took the necklace from his out stretched hand and pulled it around your neck, hooking the clasp after a few tries. "You have no idea what this means to me."

"You can show me what it means to you," he pointed to the pendant now resting besides your heart,"If you promise to always keep it with you. Then I promise that I’ll make all the wishes we made tonight come true."

"I’ll never let go of it. I promise. I’ll keep it beside me forever."


~*~*~*~
 

A man woke up on the very same rooftop to the sound of the predawn birds’ high pitched trees. He lay sprawled out on his back, his brown hair tousled and his clothes unkempt. His arm instinctively lept to guard his eyes from the sudden light perception of opening his eyes to sun. He found his arm stiff from sleeping on the unforgiving concrete all night, yet it seemed he had not slept at all, in fact he felt more drained than ever.

Sitting up groggily, without bothering to recompose his appearance, he took a check of his surroundings, the events of the previous night returning to him as the cloud of sleep vanished. Frowning, he looked up, the stars still twinkling amongst the faded curtain of the sky. He checked his watch, 3:45, and confirmed that he had indeed slept the night on the top of the withered building.

He supposed he had fallen asleep waiting. But the truth was he had been waiting much more than one night.

Staring at one of the twinkling stars above, he caught sight of a last tadpole flickering across the sky, trying to catch up with its brothers and sisters unaware of its hopeless fate of burning up by the earth’s invisible barrier. Thats right he thought to himself rubbing the remaining presence of sleep from his eyes. The meteor shower.  

It had been two years since he had last watched it, two full seasons cycles, of dates and schedules and of waiting. Two years since he had spent the last real date with the one passion he had outside of his career. It was one week later before he was able to see her again. Three weeks until that she had told him she had gotten a job in London. Four months of her preparing to leave for the foreign country and getting to see her only sparsely throughout. Then only one minute to be told that it was over.

Blinking up at the sky above he could clearly remember the day he had spent with her, the moment of pure bliss as he caught her lips with his, the foreboding yet excitement of seeing a girl he could never dare hope to covet with his company’s blessing. The shining flecks reflected in his eyes like memories as tears began to well up and cloud his vision. He struggled to hold back the onslaught of his emotions, telling himself over and over that he wasn’t going to do it again, and yet the few ranks of teardrops that slipped through his barricade fell relentlessly down his cheeks, stinging his face in the cool air. He couldn’t help but cry. 

Before long he had buried his face in his arm, of slight embarrassment but also because it was the only comfort around. Complete darkness was the only thing he could count on for escape and by covering his eyes even for a few seconds he was able to begin to recollect himself.

"What the hell," He cursed under his breath, "I shouldn’t be crying like this after so long…"

But the mere thought of her again bound his chest and his throat and held him dangling on a string. He wiped the remaining droplets from his face to muster all his strength and briskly walked to the steep drop of the roofs edge, the view just the same as when he had last seen it but this time overcast by the faint line of the suns light. He faltered at a loss for what to do next. He tilted his head up as if asking the stars for a reply, but instead they just shimmered in simplicity. In defeat, he slid down to a sitting position, his feet dangling over the building letting the cool air wash over his feet.

He was sure that his manager would kill him for leaving the dorm that night, yet as much as it nagged at his mind, the bitter-sweet nostalgia was much too enticing. Though spending a night on a roof wasn’t exactly the most well thought out action he had ever taken. But he knew that he had made worse mistakes in his life before. One of them was sitting cold in his left pocket which he pulled out to stare intently at.

It was a necklace molded into a mobius strip, the edges were chipped slightly but the general shape was still discernable. It was made of slightly tarnished silver. Along the bottom edge there were 3 small faded pink stones that lacked the same sheen they once had. Despite it’s tattered appearance, the man clutched it in his hand, tightly, as if fearing he would drop it at any moment.

Looking out upon the city he bit his lower lip, not hard enough to draw blood but hard enough to try to depreciate from the pain he felt inside himself. He swallowed hard, blinking a few stray tears from his eyes and tilted his head up once again. This time he addressed the stars like he would a lost love.

“H-hey u-um…” His start was a little shaky, but after clearing his throat he was able to clear his thoughts as well. “Hey ____ yah… It’s me, Sungyeol. You better not have forgotten me!” He stopped for a second thinking over his present situation. “What am I even doing…” He grumbled to himself. Despite his hesitation, he continued his message. “____, ah, well how are you? I hope you’re doing well in England. I bet you’re a very important business woman by now. You were always the type to relentlessly chase your dreams. I guess you would say the same for me… but we always were alike…

Infinite’s been doing well. All of us. Sunggyu has been having a lot of guest appearances and even has released a new album. Hoya and Dongwoo have an album too. Woohyun has been singing a lot and Sungjongie is starting to get much more attention. Myungsoo’s been getting a lot of modeling and acting proposals. Hoya has also gotten asked to act in things. Even I got to film a drama this year. Really we’ve all been gaining a lot of popularity lately. We even got to film in America! It’s a lot of work, but I know it’s worth it when I see the fan’s smiling faces. Were actually starting our very first world tour soon. I’m sure if you were here you would have been a part of the preparations. But you aren’t… Anyways we’ll be going to a lot of places like the Philippines, Japan, the US. We’ll also be going to London as well…

You should come to see us, for old times sake. I can even personally give you a tour backstage.” He paused and looked around nervously before continuing. “And I’m sure the other members want to see you too. If you don’t want to ever see me again that’s ok, I understand, but they miss you. If not for me you should at least do it for them.” Another pause as he tried to recollect his thoughts.

“Remember this?” He held up the necklace to the sky, “You have to come. I need to give this back to you. I won’t even let it be a choice. I need to put it back where it belongs…” he inhaled sharply as he remembered the day the day the necklace had finally strayed from her side after so long. The day he had given it to her she wore it so proudly, while the day she left she dropped it back into his hand with such and empty look in her eyes. ‘I should give this back to you. It won’t be good if I cling to this relationship when I’m gone.’ Those words stung harder than if she had flat out said ‘I hate you’. He struggled for the words to continue as he fought back the memories that were now popping up like blaring street lights.

”____ I miss you. More than anything else in the world I want you back. Please I’m begging you come see the show.  Just let me talk to you once more. I know I screwed up and I know you probably will hit me if I show up like this but I need to see you again. You have no idea what it was like after you left. I didn’t think I could let you slip through my grip again. I still think about you all the time. Why? Why did you just leave like that?” He could feel the ache of his chest and his face wet once again. His fist tightened scraping across the brick as if he was trying to get a grip on a mere thought, as if the tighter he clung into the thought of you meant you would be more likely to come back to him. Yet these gestures were mere sentiment and the pain inside his heart did not subside.

"I’d give anything to see her again," the subject he was addressing quickly changed to one more obscure. "Anything. Please let me see her just once. I’m begging you!" Now the tears were dropping like the numerous stars that fell to their deaths that night. "Please just help me! I don’t think I can bear not seeing her again. Just do this for me just this once. Please please please." The tears and muffled sounds of defeat cut him off after that. His head dropped; the weight of the whole thing too much to carry. The emotion was unyielding: he finally gave in and cried. Between sobs and sharp breaths of panic, began to grow discernible phrases; ‘Im sorry’ ‘Please’ and ‘Just once more’. He cried for everything he had put her through and the tears she shed in the process. He cried for his loss and he cried for his loneliness. He cried for all that he had no control of and he cried for everything he did have control of. He cried for everything that he couldn’t do to keep her with him. He cried for her. He cried for his failure. He cried for things even unknown to himself.

When he had finally cleared his heart enough to lift his head, the very faint rays of light had begun peaking over the horizon. Only feet away from him pigeons were lining up in rows, preparing to take off for the new day.  ”You!” He shouted at him, causing a stir but yet not scaring them away. “Yah what good are you pigeons if you can’t carry things. Come on take this necklace. Take it to her!” The man yelled finally losing his control as he hurled the necklace towards the flock of birds. The birds all lifted their wings and took off into the sky in blind panic.

The necklace fell to the ground, bounced once and skid on the roof until it was almost to the edge. The mans heart skipped a beat as he immediately regretted his descission. He scrambled up and lumbered over to the necklace lying in wait, almost falling off the roof as he skid to a halt beside the other edge. “Im sorry,” He knelt down and scooped up the chain in his hands, murmuring gingerly as if the necklace was instead the girl he had lost. “Im so sorry.”

He clutched it tightly inside his hands feeling the cold metal quickly turn warm. He pulled his hands in towards his body, the closeness some solace to his aching heart. “___, you told me you would never let go of this. That you’d be by my side forever. You promised. You promised so many things. Why did it all have to be a lie?” He leaned forward feeling the tears springing to his eyes again as he mourned and re-mourned your departure.

This time, the sky finally decided to reply. Through the eye of the storm a last straggling meteorite came falling to the ground, its celestial dust spreading to the air as it cracked into a million pieces even before it could get there. He watched it, unblinking, from the corner of his eye, as he remembered one more exchange from that night. What was it she had said about meteorites? The two exchanged so many words that he felt like he had forgotten an important part. He only wished the meteorite could have stayed in the sky longer so that the sight of it could give him time to remember. But that was the very thing wasn’t it. The thing she had told him while they were still in love. The fleeting nature of the stars made them so much more important. Even though the stars were gone they could stay within his heart. As long as he kept remembering he would never forget. Or so she said.

Within a split second a heavy weight had been lifted off of him as if the stardust had cleared his mind of a heavy fog. And the fairy that sprinkled the stardust on him? The girl of course.

Finally remembering himself, the man stood up, brushing the rooftop ash off his pants. He was going to be expected soon back at the dorm for morning schedules and he had to brace himself for a good long lecture about staying out all night when he returned. Yet with the mornings cathartic experience he felt like he was well prepared to take it. He could feel the energy being restored to him and he stood once again like a wind up doll after years of rotting in a corner. The words that swirled inside him changed from hopeless to hopeful and he could feel his heart rebuilding its protection. He watched as the sun inched higher in the sky as a few birds took off into the horizon. Perhaps, he thought, they're the pigeons that were here just a second ago.

The air felt clearer and lighter than ever before. He inhaled deeply letting the air fill him like optimism and exhaled with the light breeze that flowed by. What ever happened would be alright, weather he saw her again or not was only up to fate. Yet the new found encouragement he felt inside made him not care as much weather his desperation to see her succeeded or not. Because he would always have her by his side, likewise she would have him whether she liked it or not. He wanted to keep the memories the two if them made as a reminder that she still did exist. As much as it hurt as much as he missed it, he never wanted to forget their relationship. Because that would mean erasing all traces of her in his heart, which he could never do.

As he began climbing down the familiar staircase, almost falling off (and laughing harder than he had in a while), he made a silent promise to himself. A promise to never forget her no matter the circumstance. A promise from then on to carry her memory with him as an encouragement. A promise that for their world tour he would bring this newfound strength into every performance. It’s what he owed the members, it’s what he owed his fans, it’s what he owned the girl he lost in his attempts to get to this point in his career. Thats what she would have wanted him to do.

Now that he had seen them again however, he knew, there was something very special in shooting stars.