bathroom stall.

trois

-          the bell finally annouced the end of class, and jimin jumped from his seat joyfully to greet jeongguk. yerin slipped past quickly to avoid any more interaction, and set off down the hallway for her next class.

-

that night, yerin lay awake in bed staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling. she had always thought their greenish glow was offensively different from that of real stars, but she still found comfort in tracing pretend constellations between them. they had been there for forever, childish sentinels, and yet she could remember the very day she had put them up.

it was summer, and the windows were open. a bright breeze blew through yerin's bedroom, rustling the forgotten colored paper on the floor. jeongguk and yerin sat cross-legged on her bed, both looking intently down at a little jar full of white plastic stars.

"you found this in your attic?" jeongguk asked wonderingly, taking the jar in his little hands.

"uh-huh," yerin told him proudly. "and mom says we can have 'em."

"maybe they're real stars," jeongguk whispered, wide-eyed.

yerin was struck by this prospect, and leaned in to look closer at the jar's contents. "you think? what would happen if we touch them?"

jeongguk thought for a moment. "probably we'd fly."

"but mom says they're for sticking to the ceiling..." yerin pouted, dreams of magic ruined.

"i know!" jeongguk exclaimed eagerly. "because you have to fly to reach the ceiling! we'll be like fairies!"

"okay!" yerin reached into the jar and pulled out one of the small star shapes. with jeongguk watching her every move, she clumsily peeled off the backing to expose the sticky side. then she stood up on her mattress and reached up to stick the star to her ceiling.

"it's too high!" jeongguk told her despairingly. "you have to use your fairy powers!"

yerin gave a little hop, and the glow-in-the-dark sticker made contact with the ceiling. exhilarated by her own imagination, she flopped down beside jeongguk.

"i flew!"

"my turn!" jeongguk took a star, peeled back the covering, and took a wobbly hop to stick it to the ceiling.

giggling, yerin took another. the sounds of a springing mattress filled the room, and pretty soon the ceiling was covered in stars and two exhausted children lay on the bed, laughing giddily as the summer day drew on.

yerin sighed and allowed her eyes to close. i wonder if he remembers me.