I See The Stars//A SHORT STORY

What is time?

"Lemme see the rest of the fit, Yoongs."

The man spoke through the phone speaker, his eyes trailing over Yoongi's shoulders.

"There's no mirror here dumbass." Yoongi simply said, referring to his outfit that his friend had been bugging him to show. Jungkook rolled his eyes. The two boys were facing timing, right before Yoongi's audition for Élite musical art school Yeul had told him about.

"Excuses,excuses..." Jungkook scoffed, which made Yoongi send him a glare. The woman next to him glanced at him worriedly and he took this as a sign that his phone was perhaps a little too loud so he turned the speaker volume down.

"Man, what happens if you get into this school, huh? Are you gonna live there? You're just gonna leave me here with no one?" Jungkook pouted, purposely trying to sound as childish as he possibly could.

"Shut up. I'm pretty sure they have different branches around the world. From what I've heard from Yeul, there's one in Korea." Yoongi said, trying to now also keep his voice low since more people were starting to stare.

"Wait...what school is this?" Jungkook asked and Yoongi could see that he was rolling over to his computer.

"Elite...but in French." Was the only thing Yoongi could say without embarrassing himself and mispronouncing the school he was trying to get into around French people. Even though it was practically pronounced the same way in English.

"Hmm very clever.." Jungkook mocked which made his friend snort, his lips pulling up slightly.

"Hey, how's therapy?" Yoongi asked, realizing that this whole time their conversation had only been about him and not once Jungkook. His well being meant just as much as his own.

"Great. I mean, it's not exactly nice having to carry my body around with my arms but at least I'm building up muscle." He said, typing away on the computer, the bright screen reflecting off his brown pupils.

"That's not exactly good...it means you'll come out of there shaped like a chromosome." This time it was Yoongi's turn to jab at his friend and he stuck his tongue out when the man had defeatedly turned from the screen to the camera, sighing heavily.

"When will you be back?" Jungkook asked, a white glow on his face and Yoongi could see the monitor reflecting off of his pupils. He shrugged.

"I'm not sure. If I'm being honest I didn't even know  how long  I've been here..." He trailed off, receiving a strange feeling in the pit of his gut. It was like he'd been here before, as if he'd lived this very moment before, as if everything was; as it should be.

"That just means you're enjoying yourself."

"Min Yoongi!" A woman in glasses and a blazer called out the man's name, holding a clipboard and Yoongi shot up, appreciating the woman's accent when saying his name.

"Here." He said absently, already smacking his forehead for sounding like a schoolboy taking role-call. The woman simply nodded and turned on her heel.

"Dzis way please." She said and Yoongi followed.

"Hey Kook, I need to go now." Yoongi said, waving his hand even though the man was still concentrated on his computer screen.

"Wait! The name of the school is Jungduen Élite Music School here in Korea."

"Okay. Bye." Yoongi dismissed the man blatantly and Jungkook sighed.

"Fine. Bye. Love you."

"I know." Yoongi simply said and before he could hear the complaint he knew he was going to receive, he hung up the call, slipping his phone in his pocket. He was in a dress-shirt and the blazer Yeul had got him sometime ago. He walked passed some people working on some wires behind the curtain and the woman who was following stopped at where the large red curtain opened, insisting that he go through that space. He did.

He walked out onto a stage, a bright white light slightly blinding him as he stepped out but it soon faded and he could see the three unsmiling judges seated at the bottom of the stage, pens in hands and ready to write any comment on that white paper with his name.

Yoongi noticed the grand white piano in the centre of the stage and took a deep breath in.

•.  •.   •.

The nurse walked over to the still moving white bed,heels clinking softly against the tiles. She pulled out a wheelchair and pushed it into the edge of the bed. The figure resting on the bed gave an absent glance, breathing heavily.

"I'm glad to see you're awake." The nurse smiled, her blue eyes gleaming as another one of her colleagues, this time male, came in behind her. This one said nothing but instead pulled the patients feet from under the covers. She was slow to react but when she did, she asked;

"Where...are you...taking me?" She asked in between gasps of her air. Both nurses lifted her up from her bed and placed her softly onto the wheelchair.

"You're friend is here to see you. He says he has a surprise for you. Don't you love surprises Yeul?" The woman asked as she attached the drip to the wheel chair properly. Her voice was calm and cheerful. Perfectly trained to make patience feel at ease. The girl's eyes which were hooded before went wider and her voice became more clear as though she had gained a prominent amount of energy suddenly.

"Yoongi?"

-

"Yikes." Yoongi said as he watched the blonde nurse roll Yeul closer to him. She stopped a few meters from him then placed a soft blanket over Yeul's knees before silently leaving them alone. They were on the Clinic rooftop, the wind blowing gracefully through the night.

"You look like shit."

"Why...are you here? The audition-" Yeul was immediately cut off by Yoongi's hand that swung up dismissively.

"That was like, two hours ago." He said blatantly and Yeul tried nodding her head weakly.

"I'm sorry... I don't...don't even know the date."

Yoongi nodded in understanding. He too, for a while wasn't able to tell apart time, especially between these two intervals of meeting Yeul and now, it almost seemed like two different lifetimes.

"That's okay. It's the fifteenth...of January." He said and the girl nodded.

"Ah...I see."

Her voice was dry and taint, like she was fading. And she was, Yoongi could see, that's why he brought her here. Only then did Yeul realize the piano a few meters by Yoongi.

"How d...id you-"

"It took a lot of energy...and money. That's all you need to know." Yoongi answered the girl before she could even finish. She smiled weakly at him.

"You're a great man...you know." She said and that, simply was enough to almost make Yoongi lose his composure. He sighed deeply, turning around to the piano.

"Get settled in Kim Yeul, I'm about to play your favorite piece."