here always

chapter eight

"...and stars are always present in the sky. They are just brighter at night because of the lack of the sun."

Hyunjin finished scrawling the last sentence of his report and dramatically threw the pencil.

All the subjects and lessons he had finished with were scattered around the table he was occupying. The sky outside dimmed from the late evening to a breezy night, roads buzzing with headlights and streetlamps.

He could faintly hear the delighted squeals of the kids playing and thought (with all the dignity he could muster) that they should rather be studying or doing something more productive. That was what Hyunjin had drilled into his 8 year old mind.

He should be seen as more than a pretty face.

In all honesty, he enjoyed the attention, the double take people took, when they saw his unbelievably attractive face. But he never let it make him look big headed. He remained modest and humble as ever but the little teasing he did to boast his looks infuriated some people.

That some being the jerks he met at elementary, the overly-strict teachers and everyone who went "Oh he's only in it because he's pretty."

Which was why, even at the age of 8, Hyunjin shut himself down to prove himself worthy. To be seen as someone beyond his appearance.

But the only time Hyunjin feels so proud of himself is when he dances. Especially during late classes, when he switches off the dance room lights, dancing alone with the moonlight shining to silhouette him in the mirror. Most kids his age dreaded the dark or being alone but not him. The dark didn't let him see his face, rather his dance. And he found immense happiness that his little self never felt before.

But for the meantime he's left with a full chapter on the moon and its phases to complete.

Deciding that a break would do him good, he grabbed a stray piece of paper and started doodling the moon. Filling in the imperfection of her surface. He scribbled a few stars and then looked at his drawing.

It looks incomplete. Right, the sky– it still looked white. Grabbing a dark blue crayon he began coloring in the night sky. Again and again and again. The same repetitive strokes, just like his mundane routines. He found that he envied the moon. She could be full and perfectly round, or maybe just a tiny sliver of her can be seen in the otherwise dark sky. Being consistent was one thing but doing the same things all over again was another. He could see his entire life being just as bland. Same him, same people, same studies.

He did not even notice the grip he put on the crayon, breaking it into two.

Hyunjin huffed in irritation and figured that this was tedious work and he'd rather forget it all together. Until, another hand, that wasn't his, came up and took hold of the broken crayon and started coloring the rest of the sky.

Startled, he looked around to see another boy his age, scrunching up his nose and he did his best to properly fill in the white spots and eventually completed the painting.

Not to brag or anything but right now, with the help of this stranger, Hyunjin thought this masterpiece was better than the starry night by that 'go van' dude.

The unfamiliar boy looked up at Hyunjin with a look of guilt.

"I hope I didn't spoil it." He had a hard time properly getting words right due to his missing front teeth, but his bright doe eyes made sure the apology got through.

"No no you didn't. I like drawing but I just don't like coloring much."

The other boy giggled. "I like coloring more than drawing so I think we will complete it together!"

Complete it together. Hyunjin thought that sounded great.

"My name's Hyunjin. What's yours?"

His new found companion connected the broken halves of the crayon that they were still holding and replied, "Seungmin. You can call me Seungmin."

Hyunjin looked down at their now full crayon with both their hands holding the broken pieces.

Seungmin, Hyunjin thought, an ethereal name for the kind boy who completed the sky for his stars.