Andromeda

VIII.

 "The Andromeda Galaxy?" I repeated it as a question a while later, when a quieter, sleepy atmosphere had settled upon all of us. "That little thing is another galaxy?"

Andromeda nodded, but she didn't seem to really be listening. There was a very odd look in her eyes. She was staring at the white blur in the sky, that galaxy, like it was something so beautiful that it hurt. She reached a hand up as if to point out the blur's position again, but instead, it looked as if she were reaching out to it. Her hand hung in the air for several long moments, suspended in air and in time. Then clarity returned to her face and she allowed her arm to fall back to her side. She had a look in her eyes, the one someone has when they have just realized a dream of theirs is no longer possible.

She blinked, and suddenly it was like nothing unusual had happened. "The closest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, containing a trillion different stars. It's about two-point-five million light years away."

Taehyung laughed shakily, from his designated place next to Jimin on one of the makeshift beds. I was apparently not the only one who had noticed Andromeda's strange behavior. "Yeah, so close by. You could just drive right on over and have some tea."

Andromeda shook her head with an endearing smile. "What if I told you that the two galaxies are actually moving towards each other at over a hundred kilometers a second and are going to collide?"

That seemed to alarm Taehyung. His expressive eyes widened dramatically.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, though. It'll happen in several billion years."

I tried to comprehend the idea of several billion years. "And then what happens?" I asked.

"The galaxy has already absorbed other galaxies. It will also absorb the Milky Way galaxy and become bigger. Nothing physical will crash into each other. It's just this galaxy will become part of that one."

There was a long, drawn-out groaning noise. "Are you guys still talking? Can't some of us sleep?" Yoongi complained.

"Not all of us," Jeongguk whispered quietly, making me jump. I had thought he had fallen asleep due to how quiet he had been for so long. But he opened his eyes and stared into the darkness. The harsh glow of the whites in them spooked me. Only then did I realize that the brightness of the moon had faded to background light, making it dark enough that I had to squint to see. 

Jeongguk was staring expectantly at Andromeda. I didn't know what silent conversation was going on in the air between them, and I really didn't want to ask. I also had a feeling that whatever it was, it was something private that I shouldn't involve myself in.

So instead, I stood up very quickly and then asked Andromeda if I could go for a walk around.

She laughed, even if it did seem a little bit forced. "I said you could go anywhere that you'd like, didn't I?"

I nodded. "Yeah but that was a while ago, and maybe you don't like me as much as you did before. Also, it's a little bit weird to go walking around in somebody else's house, even if it is an old shopping mall."

She smiled. "It's not unusual. There's actually a church group collected from the area that comes in and meets in one of the rooms on the first floor on Sunday mornings. They've been meeting here for decades so I figured it would be rude to stop them."

That made me smile. "You're a very giving person, Andromeda."

I picked up a flashlight and began to walk around. I went up back to the second floor where it was bright enough to see, but not nearly as bright as it had been before. It seemed that the moon had moved far enough that it couldn't provide enough light to read the titles anymore. I found the picture book that Jeongguk had been reading a few hours before. It was written in Korean, so I knew I couldn't read it, but I could pay attention to the illustrations.