Work Text:
But if you’re not going, how
can you be sure today is the
right day?
You know I know more about the
arrival than you’ll ever do.
Just trust me.
MEMORY #8395 — ████
On a good night, N Seoul Tower is a nice spot for stargazing, with breathtaking views of the city. And it’s also a good place for you to arrive on earth without being noticed, or at least that was what Seonghwa thought before they arrived. As soon as their bare feet touched the floor, their eyes met with those of a girl in her early twenties, who was sitting on the floor instead of observing the city.
Seonghwa kneels at the girl’s side, ready to hold her chin with their index finger and press their thumb against the girl’s forehead to make her forget she ever saw Seonghwa, when they see the drawing in her sketchbook. It was the night sky, with a bright and yellow-orange explosion that was coming down to earth. It was the first person to draw and see a star arrival, making Seonghwa turn to her again.
“Does it think romance is boring?” The girl asks, writing it under her drawing. “Does it think about romance at all?”
“It doesn’t,” Seonghwa murmurs. “It does wonder about humans.”
She stares at Seonghwa, closing her eyes when she feels the thumb pressing against her forehead. Seonghwa felt a bit lonely before erasing this encounter of the girl’s memories, but it was the right thing to do. If the stars align, they might meet again, with Seonghwa being more human instead.
Let’s go to that music
festival today. It might
help you understand more
about humans.
What kind of music?
Is it too loud? Fast? Slow?
It's a cover band
They sing songs in their
style, but from other artists
MEMORY #9004 — ███
So far, all of Seonghwa’s attempts to enjoy human songs haven’t been successful. Some were either too fast or too slow, with much background noise or with barely anything. They had a few favorites, but couldn’t name an artist to call their absolute favorite. Wooyoung, on the other side, discovered a new favorite song every week, while Seonghwa was stuck in the same song for the third month in a row.
They don’t think that watching a cover band will help in their case—what if they like a song only for the original to be completely different? Even so, they decided to go. Something was calling for them. And they also needed to get out a bit more so they could learn how humans interact. Wooyoung said they are a fast learner, picking up human habits quickly.
“What if I need to go to the bathroom?” Seonghwa asks. “Or if I feel hungry? Or thirsty?”
Wooyoung opens her phone, showing a picture to Seonghwa. She points towards a rectangular drawing, “Here. The bathrooms. If you take the opposite way of the stage, you’ll see a white construction, it’ll probably have a long line in front—respect that.”
“I know that I have to respect lines.”
“The food stalls are usually around the place; you’ll see a bunch of them when we arrive. It’s also where you can drink something,” she explains.
“Okay. What do I do while watching the show?”
“Just swing your body to the sides. Have you ever felt the kind of feeling that you have to move your body? Follow it.”
Seonghwa nods. They aren’t strange to human interactions; they always loved watching them before their arrival, and they think everyone has their own way of living their life. Some follow a big dream and their life are filled with passion, while others take their whole life to find a meaning to live. But everything Seonghwa knows is to go shopping and have quick interactions in the elevator of the building where they live with Wooyoung.
They stay in the back of the crowd, everyone enjoying the artist playing right now. Seonghwa can’t really understand electronic music, because they can’t listen to it while they’re cleaning their apartment, nor can they listen to it when they’re just sitting and reading a book. It’s simply hard to listen to it. But now that they’re thinking about it, it’s a great type of music to listen to with a bunch of people around. Wooyoung wraps her arms around Seonghwa’s shoulders and starts to jump, saying that Seonghwa would enjoy it too.
Wooyoung was also a star once, but she fell years ago—Seonghwa thinks they were at their memory #234, so around six years ago, if Seonghwa made the right count. She fits easily; that’s why she already knows so much about herself, how she identifies, and who she likes. Seonghwa thinks they are comfortable with who they are right now, with no specific style to choose. Everything is so pretty, they don’t want to close themselves off to choosing something specific.
“I’m getting some water, do you want one too?” Wooyoung asks. They’re clearly out of breath after jumping and screaming so much. Seonghwa is just a bit less tired than her.
“Yes,” they answer, watching Wooyoung leave towards one of the food stalls.
Currently, a lot of people have dispersed, and some are sitting on the grass. There’s just a random instrumental song playing as the staff sets the stage for the next artist. Seonghwa looks around. Some couples are laughing together, while some friends are taking pictures or scrolling through their phones. Seonghwa can see that some people have lost their friends, because they’re on a call and looking around, like searching for something.
“Hi,” a male voice gets their attention.
The boy is just a bit taller than Seonghwa and is the type of guy Wooyoung would call handsome, blushing if he ever showed her some interest. Seonghwa agrees that he is a bit handsome, but they can’t see any appeal that’d make them interested in him.
“Hello,” Seonghwa answers, opening a kind smile.
“Are you alone?”
“Oh, no, I’m with a friend,” they answer, unconsciously pointing towards the direction Wooyoung walked to.
“Nice,” he smiles. “Uhm… Do you have a boyfriend?”
“No.”
Seonghwa knows what direction they’re going, because they saw it happening with Wooyoung once. And, deep inside, they feel like they should kiss that guy just because “it feels right to”, but they won’t enjoy it, so they already go through a bunch of ways to reject him.
“Can I have your number?”
“I’m sorry,” they answer, thinking about what they should say next. I’m not interested in you; it feels too harsh, just a ‘no’ seems like they think this guy is ugly. They take a deep breath before saying, “I’m interested in girls.”
It felt like the right thing to say. And Seonghwa felt strangely relieved by it.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he answers, opening a kind smile. He doesn’t feel sad about the rejection. “My friend is playing next. She likes girls and is single… You look like her type. I know it’s strange, but if you find her interesting, can you flirt with her?”
Seonghwa feels their cheeks getting hot. “I’ll pay attention to her. Who knows?”
The boy chuckles. “Yes. But she is very talented—just a bit too single.”
“Okay,” Seonghwa answers and chuckles. “I’m sorry again.”
“Don’t bother. Enjoy your night.”
Wooyoung approaches them right after the guy walks away, giving Seonghwa a bottle of water before asking, “I thought you’d kiss him.”
Seonghwa exhales. “He was nice and all, but I wasn’t interested in him.”
“Fair.”
“He asked me to pay attention to the girl playing next,” they keep talking. “Because she is single and I’m her type, apparently.”
“Why did he push you to his friend?”
Seonghwa fidgets with the hem of their shirt. “I… I said I’m not into guys. It felt like the right thing to say; anything else felt like I was being too harsh on him.”
Wooyoung opens a smile. “But do you think you’re only into girls, or was it something you said just to reject him?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Good. Take your time,” she answers, still smiling. “It takes some years for people to know what they like. And, technically, you’re not even a human yet.”
Seonghwa hums, frowning after processing the last part. “What do you mean I’m not a human?”
“You lived as a conscious star for six years, and only one year in a human body—it takes some time to actually feel human.”
“Makes sense,” Seonghwa says, turning to look at the stage when they hear screams.
The girl who walks to the middle of the stage is wearing velvet black pants and a suit over a deep purple button shirt. She carries a black guitar with a wood-grain texture. Behind her, ‘NO1LIKEME’ shines in different fonts. Seonghwa looks towards the big screen to see her face—and it takes their breath away.
It’s the same girl from that night. When Seonghwa was, technically, born. She is still as pretty, and the smile on her lips shows that she is in the right place. She supports her left leg on one of the props on the stage, her smile getting bigger before she starts playing a guitar solo. Seonghwa pays attention to the way she moves her fingers, and also how well her voice fits a rock song.
She sings some cover songs—Seonghwa recognizes some of them and, in their opinion, it sounds way better in the girl’s voice. She stops a bit to drink water, waiving her hand like asking for screams. Seonghwa joins the people screaming, feeling her ears burning. It’s the same thing they felt back when their eyes met for the first time.
“This next song I wrote about someone I saw once,” she starts. “It was the kind of meeting where you just share a few words before following your way, but they were so pretty that it gave me a sudden burst of inspiration.”
This song is way slower than the others. She isn’t playing her guitar now, only singing. The song describes someone who wants another person deeply, imagining everything they could do, asking if the person thinks the same of them. Seonghwa gets lost in the expressions the girl makes, their body only getting hotter. They notice that Wooyoung gets invested in a talk with another person, but Seonghwa’s eyes never leave the stage.
In the end, the girl ends up singing a lot of songs about a girl being into girls, or someone without a specific gender. Seonghwa can’t understand how she is single, because she is attractive and her lyrics are just perfect. They could easily fall for this girl if she wrote those words about Seonghwa.
After her stage finishes, Wooyoung calls Seonghwa to eat, a big smile on her face as they walk to a hot dog stall. They wait for their food to be ready before sitting close to the stall. Wooyoung’s lipstick is a bit messy, and Seonghwa can guess what the girl did while they were too busy paying attention to the stage.
“I think I want to talk to her,” Seonghwa finally confesses.
“I know,” Wooyoung answers with a smile. “I could see smoke leaving your ears because they were so red.”
Seonghwa chuckles. “She is the girl who saw me when I was born. She is still so pretty.”
Wooyoung bumps her lightly with her arm. “You have good taste.”
“Stop,” Seonghwa pleads.
Wooyoung teases her a few times before focusing on her food. They eat in silence, sometimes looking at the big screen to see who is on the stage. Seonghwa is getting a bit tired, but she’ll hold it a little just to have the chance to meet the girl again. It ends up needing more than an hour. Seonghwa and Wooyoung are walking around when Seonghwa freezes.
“Isn’t that—” Wooyoung starts, noticing that Seonghwa has stopped walking. “You’re not backing out now.”
“What—I don’t know what to do,” Seonghwa confesses. “I never did it!”
“You stayed here because of her, come on!”
When Seonghwa notices, Wooyoung has pushed them towards the counter of the food stall, where the singer is ordering a bunch of food. Seonghwa immediately says sorry when the girl turns to them.
“My friend—she is crazy,” Seonghwa adds.
The girl chuckles; her teeth are so pretty that Seonghwa wants to make her smile forever. “It’s fine. My friends also do it.”
Seonghwa nods. “What’s—What’s your name?”
The smile on the girl’s lips changed to something a bit unreadable, but Seonghwa doesn’t feel like it was negative. “Hongjoong. Kim Hongjoong.”
“You’re really a good singer,” they praise, closing their hand around the strap of her bag. “I loved the first song you sang.”
“Wonderwall? It’s my favorite from Oasis,” she answers.
“No, the one you said you wrote after you met someone.”
“Oh, Picture You,” she says, taking a bunch of food and stepping away from the counter, Seonghwa right behind her. “They were kind of similar to you.”
“As in…?”
“Everything,” Hongjoong says. “Like they were from another world.”
Seonghwa frowns. She wasn’t supposed to remember their first meeting. When she looks at Hongjoong again, she is looking at her food, but still patiently waiting for an answer.
Seonghwa repeats what Hongjoong first said to her, “Does it think romance is boring?”
Hongjoong opens her mouth a couple of times, like she is out of words. “You—I’ve been looking for you!”
“You weren’t supposed to remember me,” Seonghwa thinks out loud. “What did I do wrong?”
“What? I remember talking to you, but I don’t remember seeing you arrive, and when I opened my eyes, you weren’t there.”
“I’m sorry. You were supposed to forget everything about our interaction,” Seonghwa murmurs. “I—Sorry.”
“No, don’t be. What’s your name?”
“Seonghwa.”
“Such a pretty name,” she smiles. “Can I have your number? It’s just that I’m really hungry and I don’t want to leave my friends waiting. I promise I’ll text you soon.”
“Ah, yes,” Seonghwa answers, taking the phone Hongjoong gives to her.
“Thank you,” she smiles. “I’m so happy to see you again.”
Seonghwa smiles. “Same. Enjoy your food.”
“Thank you.”
Seonghwa walks back to Wooyoung, who stares at them with a confused expression—like she was asking what happened. Seonghwa only opens a smile.
“We exchanged numbers, she said she is hungry,” Seonghwa explains. “And… She remembers our interaction. She doesn’t remember me arriving or leaving, but she remembers what we talked about.”
“Shit… Well, at least she doesn’t know what you are, exactly,” Wooyoung says. “Let’s go home.”
Seonghwa nods. They are too tired—and their shoes are hurting their feet.
Hwa, are you free today?
Hi, yes.
Do you need something?
I want to show you my
new song.
I’ll pick you up.
MEMORY #9460 — ████
Seonghwa feels their cheeks heating up when Hongjoong holds their hand, pulling Seonghwa towards her studio so she can show her new song to Seonghwa faster. Nothing happened between them, but Seonghwa can only feel drawn closer to Hongjoong, their whole body reacting to a simple smile.
Being with Hongjoong made them realize that they don’t need to force themselves to find a guy handsome, let alone kiss them just because they should do it. Seonghwa loves the thought that they are into girls and, especially, Hongjoong.
“You must be proud of this one,” Seonghwa comments.
“I’m so proud,” she answers, putting a headphone on Seonghwa’s head.
Seonghwa hums. The song describes someone saying that they’ll be there for another person, no matter what. It’s comforting and heartwarming, and Seonghwa unconsciously wishes that they were the person Hongjoong is singing to.
“That’s so good,” they answer. “I loved it. You write so well…”
Hongjoong smiles. “I hope you know you can trust me, as I said in the song.”
Seonghwa looks at their lap. Hongjoong might have noticed that Seonghwa doesn’t talk about everything in their life, often changing topics when they go too into their past.
“Thank you,” Seonghwa answers. “I’m here for you, too.”
Hongjoong smiles, caressing Seonghwa’s hand.
Happy birthday!
I’ll bring you a cake at night.
MEMORY #9708 — ██████
Seonghwa knocks on Hongjoong’s door, waiting for a few seconds before the girl opens it, a big smile on her lips. She gives way to Seonghwa, who walks towards the kitchen.
“What cake is it?” Hongjoong asks.
“A strawberry shortcake,” they answer, taking it out of the package. “And I also bought chicken.”
“This is the best birthday ever!” She exclaims, jumping around. “Thank you so much.”
“No problem. I love your company and all of our times together are a nice memory for me,” Seonghwa adds, opening their arms to hug Hongjoong. “Happy birthday again.”
They sit at the table, eating and talking about their day. Seonghwa has started working in a café, because now they are more comfortable in this life, and they love speaking about the nice people they talk with. Hongjoong just keeps talking about her job, how she is having a bit of trouble in perfecting this new song.
“I bought a bunch of candles, but let’s just light one in the middle of the cake,” Seonghwa says, taking the package out of her pocket. “Twenty-six candles are too much, and we don’t want to start a fire.”
Hongjoong giggles. “Fair.”
They sing a happy birthday, watching Hongjoong blow out the candle after making a wish. Seonghwa feels as if the fire goes to their chest instead.
“You’re so pretty today, as if you’re glowing,” Hongjoong points out. “You do shine like a star. That’s what your name means, right? Or did I get confused with someone else?”
“Seonghwa? Yes. It’s ‘to be a star’, actually. And thank you, you’re pretty every day,” Seonghwa answers, smiling when they see Hongjoong’s cheeks get a soft shade of pink.
“Thank you, I guess,” Hongjoong answers, clearly embarrassed.
Can we meet today? I want to
see you.
Of course! Is there a specific
reason? Or are you just missing
me? (＾3＾♪
Who taught you how to use
those emojis?
A friend from work.
You didn’t answer my question~
I want to see my friend.
(☉｡☉)!
I can’t believe I’m your friend…
Fuck off.
Meet you at eight. Near
that restaurant you like.
(✯ᴗ✯) Okay!
And no bad words! ᕙ (° ~ ° ~)
MEMORY #10106 — ████████
Seonghwa chooses their best outfit. They feel particularly excited about today’s outing. Maybe it’s the Christmas lights around the city that give them the feeling of those year-end cliche romance movies that everyone loves watching.
“Oh, you’re looking good today,” Hongjoong says when Seonghwa stops by the door of the restaurant.
“Thank you. You’re also looking amazing,” they answer with a smile. “You could’ve chosen a warmer day, though.”
Hongjoong giggles, and Seonghwa can’t tell if her cheeks are pink because of the cold or if she is blushing. “Sorry, I didn’t check the weather.”
“It’s fine. The food will warm us.”
Hongjoong nods, holding the door so Seonghwa can walk inside first. A waitress walks to them, asking for the name they used to book the table, to which Hongjoong answers with her full name.
Seonghwa can feel her stomach bubbling when Hongjoong touches the end of her back as she guides Seonghwa towards their table.
As they go through their dinner, Seonghwa definitely feels something strange in the air, like Hongjoong is being more straightforward with her praises towards Seonghwa. It makes Seonghwa feel good—they’ve been circling their feelings towards Hongjoong for at least four years.
Seonghwa was feeling so shy and embarrassed by all the attention that they barely talked during their dinner. Hongjoong offered to follow Seonghwa to the subway station, stopping by the end of the stairs.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard about it, but it’s common for people to kiss under a mistletoe,” Hongjoong says, pointing towards the ceiling.
Seonghwa looks up, a smile getting to their lips as they notice the mistletoe hanging above them. “You could’ve asked it years ago, you know.”
Hongjoong chuckles. “I didn’t want to go too fast, but I got lost between going too fast and going too slow.”
“Yeah…”
“So? Can I kiss you?”
Seonghwa’s smile gets bigger. “Of course.”
Hongjoong holds Seonghwa’s face softly, her thumbs caressing their cheeks as she gives Seonghwa a quick peck before starting a kiss. Seonghwa barely knows what to do—they have never kissed someone before, so they decide to follow Hongjoong’s lead.
The kiss is slow and soft, Hongjoong’s perfume is a mix of floral and earthy scents, making Seonghwa feel comfortable in the touch. They caress Hongjoong’s waist, feeling their heart beating so fast they believe it’d jump out of their chest.
When they break the touch, Hongjoong gives two quick pecks on Seonghwa’s lips before hugging her and kissing her shoulder. That’s also when Seonghwa notices that a few spots in their body are shining, making them push Hongjoong away, who frowns in confusion.
“Shit,” they murmur. “You can’t see that.”
Hongjoong stares at Seonghwa, opening a soft smile. “I know what you are, Hwa. It’s fine.”
“How—How did you discover it?” Seonghwa says, calming down after their body goes back to normal.
“I went through a lot of people saying that their partners had constellations in their bodies and it’d shine when they were really in love with someone. And when I went back to my drawing, it looked like a star explosion. And your name is related to stars.”
“You promise you’ll never share it with someone else?” Seonghwa asks. “We spend at least half of our long lives with humans, because we can see everyone from the sky, but we shine brighter when we’re in love with humanity.”
“So you’ll die?”
“In a billion years. But every human can be a star in the future,” they explain. “If we love each other deeply, maybe we can shine together.”
Hongjoong opens a smile. “I loved this idea.”
“Who’d have thought that the first human I saw would become someone so important to me,” Seonghwa says, caressing Hongjoong’s hands. “Thank you for loving me back.”
“It was impossible not to.”
[Audio File: Inception]
Don’t open it. You’ll listen
to it in front of me when
you get to my apartment today.
(✿☉｡☉)
Okay…?
I know we literally spent
the New Year together, but
I’m missing you so much…
｡:ﾟ(;´∩`;)ﾟ:｡
(つ≧▽≦)つ
I miss you too… Guess that’s what
being in love means.
WHAT !!!!!!
YOU USED ONE!!!!!
(☉｡☉)!
I did.
(っ˘з(˘⌣˘ )
I love you.
(◠‿・)—☆
I love you, too. (●’3)♡(ε`●)
MEMORY #10140 — █ ████ ███
Seonghwa can barely think when Hongjoong opens her door, because it takes the other a second to hug Seonghwa by their waist and spin them in the air. They laugh against Hongjoong’s shoulder when she puts Seonghwa back on the floor.
“You look happy,” Seonghwa observes.
“I am so happy,” Hongjoong answers. “I wrote this song years ago, but I only got it the way I wanted yesterday.”
“Oh, so that’s the song you’ve been trying to reach perfection for ages?”
“Yes,” she smiles.
They eat dinner and walk to Hongjoong’s room, lying down on the bed. Hongjoong, with her laptop on her lap, Seonghwa right at her side, with their head on Hongjoong’s shoulder.
The song starts with Hongjoong’s calm voice singing “I’m in love”, which automatically makes Seonghwa smile. They can’t stop smiling while listening to the song describing how much Hongjoong loves them, pulling her to a kiss as soon as the song finishes.
“I love you so, so much,” Seonghwa says, placing a few kisses around Hongjoong’s face. “We’ll spend eternity together, and become the first supernova together.”
“I love you, too,” Hongjoong murmurs. “We’ll be the brightest stars in the sky for the next billion years.”
Seonghwa smiles, nodding and kissing the tip of Hongjoong’s nose.
BONDED MEMORY #1 — ██
The Lovers: our brightest stars ever
The stars humanity has been waiting to see in our night sky arrived today. Ever since they started appearing in our galaxy, they have never gone their separate ways. Based on the myth that every living being turns into a star after their death, ‘The Lovers’ wins that name because they’re always shining together, without ever being separated.
(っ˘з(˘⌣˘ )
Hongjoong smiles as she touches her forehead with Seonghwa’s, caressing their hands. “I love you.”
“I know,” Seonghwa murmurs. “I love you, too.”
Seonghwa hugs Hongjoong tightly, ready to sleep for eternity in the comfort and warmth of their lover’s arms. Hongjoong hums, as if she is enjoying this new life of always being hugged by the person she dedicated all of her songs to.
“Does it wonder about romance?” Hongjoong murmurs, making Seonghwa giggle.
“It didn’t until that one night, a billion years ago,” they answer.