Archive of Our Own ^beta

The hospital waiting room was currently busy with people going back and forth between rooms, chairs, and desks. A monster attack had just taken place and so the building had received a flood of patients, though the attacks didn’t come from a particularly high ranking horde of monsters.

“Haaa…” Choi Jungsoo plopped back onto the hospital seat next to Kim Roksoo, procuring a can of fruit soda. Kim Roksoo glanced back at him, gaze seeming somewhat expectant despite the fact that his left eye was covered after it got scratched by a monster’s claw. 

Choi Jungsoo let out a huff and passed over the can of soda he’d bought for him from the vending machine, saving the last can for Lee Soohyuk once he returned from sorting things out, filling in statements and giving a verbal report. This hellish company really worked them to the bone.

Roksoo could see him struggle to open the can with his injured hands and snatched it from him with his mostly functioning hand, cracking it open with a sigh. 

He gave a small frown in response, but took it back while mumbling a small ‘thanks’. Kim Roksoo grunted back. “How’re your injuries?”

Choi Jungsoo groaned, whining. “Ugh, my head hurts like hell,”

“Well, that sure is unexpected for someone who got launched into a brick wall,” Choi Jungsoo then elbowed his shoulder “Ow—!” This earned a glare from Kim Roksoo that only received a laugh in response. “You jerk.”

Choi Jungsoo stuck out his tongue in response and Kim Roksoo almost reached over to pull his hair in retaliation, before being scolded by an older nurse that passed by and saw their scuffle.

Kim Roksoo finally cracked open his own can of soda, and before he could even have a sip, Choi Jungsoo held up his can. “Cheers,” 

He sighed, but obliged him, tapping their metal cans against each other lightly before having a sip, and then immediately regretting it. “—! Blegh!”

“Huh!? What’s wrong?” Choi Jungsoo quickly asked, expression fearful as if Kim Roksoo had just been poisoned. Roksoo’s expression simply remained soured— almost as sour as the contents of his soda can. Seeing this, Choi Jungsoo grew more panicked. “What the hell—!? Kim Roksoo, say something!”

“It’s lemon.” he managed, frown deepening when he realized that his backpack was currently being stored god knows where after the mission and he didn’t have any more water to wash down this putrid, horrible taste that was like torture on his tastebuds.

“Ha!? That’s it?” Choi Jungsoo stared at him in disbelief, before bursting into laughter at his still-sour expression.

“Why did you buy me this…?”

Jungsoo was still laughing. “Pfft—! I just grabbed whatever,” and Kim Roksoo frowned at him as if he didn’t believe that this wasn’t one of Choi Jungsoo’s usual antics. “Seriously! I mean, just look at the packaging! It’s blue!”

Kim Roksoo stared at it, squinting. “With lemons on it.”

“They were small! I just thought it was— I don’t know, blueberry flavored, or something!”

“Well, clearly not,” Kim Roksoo grumbled, observing the packaging— it had a cute and smooth sort of aesthetic, and he wondered if Jungsoo had bought him a kids’ drink. 

“Aigoo, look, I’m sorry, okay? You’re so moody about this kind of thing,” Choi Jungsoo slumped beside Kim Roksoo, seeming half-apologetic about it. He pointed at the picture at the front of the packaging. “I just picked it because of this thing.” 

“The jellyfish?”

“Yeah! It has this grumpy sort of tired look, see?” He leaned over Kim Roksoo’s shoulder, though he took care to be careful not to press on the wounded areas enough to hurt him, and poked at the jellyfish. He had a bit of a teasing expression on his face as he spoke. “The resemblance is pretty striking with our reliable moody maknae, isn’t that right?” 

At that, Kim Roksoo shoved his face away with his palm, earning some noisy complaints from his co-worker. “I don’t see a resemblance at all.”

This simply drawn jellyfish had its eye somewhat down turned, as if it was bored or tired, and was also a vibrant red color. He couldn’t see where the similarities lied.

“Seriously? Just look at him!”

“I don’t see it.”

“I’ll seriously snap a picture of this and send it to the team leader and have him back me up on this.”

“You idiot, he’s working and getting his nose fixed.”

“Well he’s got eyes that can see fine—” Kim Roksoo lightly hit him over his head in response. “Ow!”

“Payback.”

“You—”

They were yet again scolded by a senior nurse and finally settled back down, with Choi Jungsoo leaning slightly to Kim Roksoo’s side, slumping into his seat and sighing, Kim Roksoo just kept staring at the small jellyfish.

Choi Jungsoo chuckled. “Starting to see the resemblance?”

“There is none.”

“You’re just saying that ‘cause you’re embarrassed about it. How cute.” If it weren’t for the fact that the nurse was still within range of them, Kim Roksoo would have smacked the soda can over his head by now. So instead, he resorted to a sharp glare, and Jungsoo raised one of his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay~ how vicious.”

 “The injured should stop straining themselves by saying useless things.”

“The injured should also stop frowning so much— it takes a ton of muscles to do that compared to just smiling, you know,” to demonstrate, Choi Jungsoo’s mouth stretched into a wide smile, showcasing his teeth and dimples, and the muscles around his eyes made them half-lidded. He could also see his torn lip and the few scars on his face change shape, and the bandaids on his face seemed to stretch too.

Kim Roksoo huffed in response, gazing at the so-called moody jellyfish.

“They come in a series, you know,” Choi Jungsoo said, picking up his own green apple mint flavored can. “It’s got a space theme going, though this one seems to be the only one that’s under the sea, for some reason. Mine and the team leader’s are up in space, see?”

Indeed, there were stars and planets and rockets on the packaging, while Kim Roksoo’s assumed a nautical theme, with bubbles, corals, fish, and the like. What kind of concept were the designers trying to present here…? 

“I guess it’s ‘cause you’re special~” Choi Jungsoo said in a sing-song voice, poking at Kim Roksoo’s cheek as a way to annoy him, and he swatted his hand away in response. “That’s totally fine though, ‘cause me and the team leader get to be shiny stars up in space.”

“Why are you so invested in the pictures on a soda can?”

“Oh? Is Roksoo jealous~?” He flicked his forehead for that. “Ow!” 

“You need to shut up. Just go to sleep, or something.”

“Can’t. The chairs here are too uncomfortable,” he replied in complaint. “I want to hurry and get home, honestly.”

“We’ll probably be discharged once the Team Leader finishes up.” Kim Roksoo replied, while staring at the two other soda cans. Green apple mint and tutti-fruity. He could feel Choi Jungsoo settle down next to him, again. The two jellyfish on each of their packaging, green and purple, seemed to have different personalities. One seemed to be a cool and reliable kind of jellyfish, while the other had a more cheerful and somewhat mischievous expression. He thought they resembled two people a bit.

Those two other jellyfish had bright yellow stars behind them, while Kim Roksoo’s simply had a few sea stars surrounding it, as if to mimic a space-like setting. 

He could feel Choi Jungsoo’s weight pressing more against his side, though it seemed rather gentle as if not wanting to press too hard. 

“Bon, bon, bon, bon, bon, bon, bon, bon…” Kim Roksoo looked to the side while still holding his cup of rancid soda and at Choi Jungsoo who was singing to himself, his torn lip stretching into a light smile. 

“...bon, bon, bon… bon…”

Lonely jellyfish, softly floating high, looking up at the sea of stars in the sky

Kim Roksoo carefully stepped out of the wooden closet, pushing past the cracks that left gaps of light at the door leading within, and tiptoed towards his bedroom door, pressing his ear against the surface carefully. No sound.

After waiting a few more minutes, he finally opened the door, taking care to be extremely careful when he reached the part where the door creaked as it swung, and then took a peek. “!” he flinched when he saw a familiar figure lying on the ground, and covered his nose when a disgusting stench reached his senses. After a moment, he sighed and approached, quietly.

It seemed that his uncle had passed out, completely and utterly drunk, leaving a puddle of vomit behind him. Kim Roksoo sighed again and carefully tiptoed around him and towards some tissues and a mop.

It was late at night, he couldn’t tell what time it was because their clock had long since stopped working, but he knew it was certainly late because Kim Roksoo had seen the tired salaryman who always seemed to come home past midnight— maybe because he had to work extra hours, or maybe because he stopped by elsewhere before returning to his home— walk down the sideway leading to their apartment lobby entrance.

“Mgh…” Kim Roksoo’s shoulder flinched instinctively but he didn’t make a sound. His uncle stirred again, turning from his position lying face flat on the floor towards his side, messy hair strewn about as if he’d been out and about all night. Kim Roksoo gripped his mop handle tighter. “...” he finally settled down once more and just the smallest puff of breath left his lips in relief.

He put away the mop, and then passed through the kitchen, deciding to have a drink. Their dispenser was almost empty now, so he made sure to only take a bit of water. After he finished his cup that was only a quarter-way filled, he looked to the side and at his uncle who was at a distance. Kim Roksoo filled the cup halfway and placed it a safe distance from his uncle. Maybe if his hangover the next morning wasn’t as bad, he’d be more amicable and decide to just ignore his existence, which he’d prefer.

A veil of silver light shone through the window and past the sheers, and Kim Roksoo stared at the starless sky. In many pictures like on billboards or posters on the streets, and in discarded picturebooks, the night sky was always depicted glittering with stars, but right now and every night before this, Kim Roksoo had never spotted a single one. It was always the same pitch black void blanketing Seoul's vibrant night life.

Tonight, in that pitch black darkness, something faintly sparkled in a sea of black, twinkling gently and quietly.

“...ah.” 

Like the tiniest crack in a wall that spanned forever, Kim Roksoo could spot one single twinkling star, its shine fragile as if it was constantly flickering. It was small, like a hole poked into a piece of black paper, and it seemed so very distant. His eyes sparkled.

With a tiny, glassy heart…

One lonely star, in the darkness like a tiny boat lost in an endless sea. Where had its friends gone? He felt a small sense of pity, but it was a star that was high up and far away from him, he couldn’t reach it even if he tried.

Maybe the rest of the stars had gone to someplace else that was less noisy, less tiring, somewhere more peaceful and with less blinding lights and busy people. Kim Roksoo would’ve done the same, but this small twinkling star seemed to be left behind. How pitiful.

However Kim Roksoo stared at that tiny lonely star, and held a small hope in his heart. He hoped, silently, that this star would fall, so that he could make a wish. 

Seeking love so warm…

If that star fell, he wanted to ask for something— maybe something useful, like a lunch box full of food, or maybe a fridge full of food, if they’d allow something like that. Maybe he’ll wish for his own house, far away from this place, where he didn’t have to clean up messes everyday and maybe a room with a bigger and softer bed. Maybe he could even ask for a shelf full of books he liked.

He glanced up at the star once again, before feeling somewhat guilty. Maybe, he should wish something nice for this star too, right?

“...” he whispered quietly. “...star-nim… if you fall…” he hesitated. “i hope that you get to find your friends down on earth.”

He’d heard that there were things called starfish. Perhaps, the peaceful quiet place this star’s friends found was the sea. It was vast just like the sky, but maybe they preferred corals over planets.

“So… please fall, okay?” The 9-year-old Kim Roksoo was offering a deal towards the small star in a hushed whisper. “...so that… maybe i can find friends, too.”

…Gently drifting through foam.

That star never did fall. 

On quiet and noisy and terrible and lonely nights, it would continue to twinkle silently up in the sky, never quite extinguishing. Kim Roksoo would simply watch it from below, perhaps waiting for it to fall, waiting for a chance to make a wish.

Kim Roksoo wiped his eyes as he lifted his head from his desk. He was now in high school, and alone in his classroom. A thick fantasy novel he’d borrowed from the library sat on his desk, as well as a vibrant yellow sticky note.

Bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon

It was a note from one of his classmates that was left in his shoe locker the day before, and he’d just gotten it earlier that day.

Searching for my friends bubbling away.

‘Hey Roksoo. You’re absent today, but it’s my last day at school. My mom just told me that my dad got fired and I’ll have to transfer to some other school out of town. Sorry i had to tell you like this— i can’t make it to the campfire, either. Text me and send photos, yeah?’

And below was a phone number. Kim Roksoo had tried contacting it, but couldn’t get through, for some reason. He’s asked his other classmates, and apparently they haven’t been able to get in touch with him either. It could be a connection issue or that he changed numbers, or something else. No one knew.

This classmate was Kim Roksoo’s deskmate. Despite Kim Roksoo’s efforts to keep to himself, this deskmate of his always tried to make small talk with him, since he was the extroverted type. He’d been there for maybe a month, and Kim Roksoo had gradually gotten used to his presence.

Today was a school campfire event to celebrate founding day as well as a festival. This deskmate of his had told them they would sit next to each other at the campfire and promised to show him how to make smores, telling Kim Roksoo to bring marshmallows. He’d done that, but in the end, it ended up like this.

He could see through the window, when he looked down at the school field, dozens of students gathered around, cooking, talking, singing, telling cliche unscary horror stories— He felt too tried to deal with any of it, so he left, with the excuse of picking up something for the teacher that was left in his classroom. 

It wasn’t the first time this happened. Kim Roksoo had changed deskmates a few times already throughout the year, sometimes they transferred out, or got moved to a different desk, a different class, maybe they got expelled— all kinds of things happened.

Kim Roksoo took out a marshmallow from the plastic he’d brought. He’s honestly never tried one of these before— they were squishy and somewhat bouncy and really soft. He popped one in his mouth. It was sweet, and stickier on the inside— he wasn't really sure if he enjoyed the texture very much. Was it worth the amount of money he spent on it? Well, it was a bit more underwhelming than he’d hoped.

When he looked away from the campfire below, and up at the sky above, the twinkling star was still there, as if it had followed him throughout his years.

His gaze drew back down— the campfire was lit alight, flickering and dancing in a bright warm hue that enveloped every piece of wood fed to it— it even shone brighter than the lonely star in the sky. Perhaps, if there were another thousand of that tiny distant light, they’d be able to rival the light of the campfire. 

Maybe, wherever the rest of the stars had drifted off to, they were shining as bright as those flames, leaving behind a single ember.

Bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon— I don’t want to be alone, 

Kim Roksoo was unsure of how long he’d been in that hole, if it could be called that— it wouldn’t have been a stretch to say that it could have collapsed at just about any time.

It was cold— well, he should have expected that much when it was November. It was also mostly dark. Broken pipes and jagged metal edges and hanging, loose wires were everywhere he looked, surrounding him like a forestry of machines. Sometimes he could see sparks emerging, every now and then, reaching for the puddle of muddy water pooling at his feet. Those sparks twinkled and glimmered like a tiny, deadly, dying star in the dark.

He was thirsty. Parched beyond belief. It felt like it’d been ages in that hole, and sometimes water, in the tiniest drops, unknown just from where— passed through where— would fall, like an illusion of rain. He’d stick out his tongue and catch them, and they’d always land because Kim Roksoo had done something like this when he was a child often— sticking out his tongue trying to catch drops of rainfall and snowflakes when he was starving and roaming the streets.

The debris he was trapped in would have been completely dark, if not for the hole of light leading outside above him— though perhaps it could be better described as a gap of sorts. Screams, roars, cries, hisses— all kinds of noises would echo from outside, and the fixtures made up of ruins would tremble around him. Sometimes monsters would linger near, passing by, maybe a bit too close. There was a time when blood, carrying a metallic scent, mixed with the rusty water and leaked in. 

At night, it was truly, truly dark, as if the earth had been covered by an old blanket. Not even moonlight could phase through.

But then one night, 

Then, Kim Roksoo heard the cry of a monster, and then a thud. Then the sound was repeated again, and he thought he could hear the sound of something cleanly cutting through the air— or maybe through something. Like when you chopped up an ingredient with a kitchen knife. He tensed when the sound of steps approached him.

If he squinted as he craned his neck up at the sky, he could see the tiny twinkling star quietly shining as it always had.

But, perhaps due to the lessening light pollution, or something, it was no longer alone. Another small star was blinking at him from above, just a short distance next to the lonely star that had been following him alone all these years, never falling. And tonight, perhaps its persistence was rewarded.

A pair of worn sneakers kicked away a piece of debris, and the tiny window of the outside world that could be better described as a gap, expanded.

A man with long, unruly hair, and a bloody sword peered down at him, his dark eyes lighting up despite the darkness as they widened in surprise.

I’ll leave this place today.

“Hey,” the man asked. “You alive down there?”

Kim Roksoo stared up at him, the shining light flooding from outside reflecting in his dark pupils. 

“...yeah.” he replied in a hoarse voice. “I’m alive,” he said. “Can you help me out?”

At that, the tall man with disheveled hair and heavy bags under his eyes, began to laugh in a voice that sounded like it was cracking because of his sore throat. That refreshing and somewhat misplaced sound flooded down towards him like rainfall.

“Sure thing, let’s get you out of there, hm?”

Starlight bubbles wave and call my name

Apparently, that person’s name was Lee Soohyuk. He helped him out of that hole, and then led him to a safe shelter that he was protecting. He said a few words to an old ahjumma, patted his shoulder and pushed him forward, and then practically handed him over to her before promptly leaving, sword in hand.

“Aigooo,” Grandma Kim sighed as she went over Kim Roksoo’s injuries. They really weren’t much, just a few problems with his leg after the collapse, which did make things difficult during the trip with Lee Soohyuk. Fortunately, it was quickly healed by Grandma Kim’s ability, enveloping it in a gentle yellow light. This was not the first time Kim Roksoo had witnessed the use of one, and Lee Soohyuk briefly explained it to him on their way here as he cut down monsters with his sword.

“That Lee Soohyuk just keeps coming back with more people every day telling me to heal them without even thinking about himself. You saw the state of him too, didn’t you?”

“...” Kim Roksoo simply replied with a curt nod. At that, Grandma Kim sighed again, so Kim Roksoo decided to say something. “He seems very exhausted,”

“He is— it’s easier to take down a giant monster than it is to convince him to have a proper night’s sleep,” 

“I don’t think anyone can have a proper night’s sleep in these circumstances,”

“You know what I mean,” she replied. It seemed that Grandma Kim’s hobby was sighing every time she was exasperated. Even so, she was very gentle as she tended to him despite her stern way of speaking, and her expression would soften every time he winced. It wasn’t something he was very used to. 

“Does he go out and do this all the time?”

“Saving people? Yes,” she nodded. “Too often. It feels as if he’s grown an unnecessary sense of responsibility over the lives of others, that young punk.”

“....” 

“Oh, yes, I haven’t even asked your name. You are?”

“Kim Roksoo,”

“Roksoo, hm? It’s not a very common name,”

“No, ma’am,”

“How polite. Well, Kim Roksoo, you should rest that leg for a short while before trying anything strenuous.”

“Lee Soohyuk,” he suddenly said. “That’s his name, right?”

She blinked slightly as she rolled down her sleeves. “Yes, that’s right,”

“Kim Roksoo, you should stay alive, after this,”

He had said it in a somewhat joking and light tone, but there was a twinge of desperateness as he said those words to him. 

“I see,” he paused. “Thank you, Grandma.”

Her stern expression softened in a warm kind of way. Under the flickering half-dead ceiling light, her eyes shone and twinkled in a soft and subdued way, like the faint glow of an ancient star. “You’re welcome, Roksoo.”

If I follow through the milky way…

He got to talk to Lee Soohyuk just a few times— Kim Roksoo could count their interactions on one hand.

He’d always come back with an injury of some kind, while carrying or guiding another injured person if they couldn’t go on their own. He rested when he was completely drained and could barely stand, and would skip meals in favor of going back out there to save more people.

A few times, he’d give Lee Soohyuk a water bottle to drink or a snack under Grandma Kim’s instructions, and a lot of the time he’d thank him but only have so much as a sip or try to convince him to save it for later, but Kim Roksoo had learned to be more stern.

“It’d be pointless if you just went out there and dropped dead.”

Or, in Lee Soohyuk’s words, blunt despite his respectful way of speaking to him. 

But it wasn’t a wrong approach if it was working, if only a little.

“Kim Roksoo, it’s generally impolite to ignore someone while they’re talking,” Lee Soohyuk said, but Kim Roksoo didn’t take his eyes off of the sky. He sighed and looked up with him. They were on the rooftop, Seoul’s crumbling cityscape within view as if they had fallen in their pursuit for the vastness of the sky. Faint hues of purple reflected in his irises. “I guess the view is a bit impressive,”

The milky way, in a cloudy gradient of galactic colors, sprinkled with stars, was lighting up the sky.

“A bit is kind of an understatement,”

“You didn’t strike me as the kind of person who’d appreciate a pretty view in such a focused way,” When Kim Roksoo’s gaze remained towards the sky, Lee Soohyuk huffed as he continued to polish his worn out sword. “How profound,”

“It looks a bit like a giant crack, right?”

“I take it back. That wasn’t a very profound description at all,”

Kim Roksoo was ignoring him. “I wonder if it leads anywhere,”

“You really think it’s some sort of giant crack?”

“If monsters can overrun the world suddenly and start the collapse of human society, I don’t see why not,” even as he said that, Kim Roksoo was questioning himself. Why was he suddenly spouting random conspiracies? Lee Soohyuk hummed, his tone somewhat amused. Kim Roksoo stared at the glow emitting from its center, like something divine. “I just wonder if that light leads anywhere,”

“If it did, would you try to go there?”

“What kind of question is that? We can’t even cross borders, what makes you think we can travel through space?”

Lee Soohyuk let out another long, exasperated sigh, and his right eye seemed to twitch. “You know, you’re really irritating, Roksoo,”

Kim Roksoo huffed back, but the corners of his lips were twitching. 

The sky was filled with stars. Kim Roksoo could not identify that lonely star anymore now that he was surrounded by so many like him, bigger, brighter, and also smaller and fainter. The weak little star could now be a part of a constellation. He traced one, for it, with his scarred fingers. He wasn’t sure what shape he was looking for or what constellations usually looked like, but he made up his own. It took the shape of a star, the kind you’d doodle in your notebooks in class, and consisted of many little twinkling lights that were more like specks of dust from below.

Perhaps, that crack was a way they’d opened up to return and pick up this lonely friend of theirs who was left behind.

Lee Soohyuk observed Kim Roksoo’s absentminded motions. “Do you like stars?”

“Not particularly,” he replied. “I just see them too much,”

He laughed. “What kind of answer is that?”

“That's my answer,” Kim Roksoo said. Then, he stared at that crack of light for a while. The stars continued to swirl and the milky way shone brightly. “At the center of that crack, it might just be a black hole,”

Sparkling lights are waiting there for me.

“You have weird thoughts,” Lee Soohyuk said, sliding over a bottle of water to Kim Roksoo’s side. “What would you do if that was the case, then?”

“...I don’t know,” he replied. “Though… it could also just be an even brighter star— the largest sun, maybe,” he paused. “What would you do?”

“Hm?”

“You’re always going out there, saving people, killing monsters, and you’re even leaving the shelter tomorrow,” Kim Roksoo said. “If you had the opportunity to go to the center of that crack and see what’s there, what would you do?”

It was a strange question that absolutely made no sense. Not even a person who was drunk out of their mind would ask such a question, even as a hypothetical.

“What would I do…?” he was starting to feel embarrassed about asking such a weird question. “Are you curious about what’s up there? Did you want to be an astronaut when you were a kid?”

An astronaut? What a hassle. “No,”

“You were probably thinking about how much of a hassle that would be, huh? You punk,” Lee Soohyuk laughed.

Kim Roksoo groaned. “This is stupid—”

“Well,” Lee Soohyuk said, leaning back. “I’m a pretty down-to-earth person, you know?” he said in a relaxed voice. “I lived as a slacker for a good part of my first few years living alone, dreaming about getting big leading roles in action movies while doing small-time acting gigs for a random movie, maybe as a side character, or even just as a stunt double,”

“You wanted to be an actor?”

“Yeah, I’d been thinking about it since high school, but the industry is cut-throat, you know?”

Kim Roksoo would imagine that after this, he’d have a much easier time getting into those roles that he desired— he fit the criteria for a cool action hero perfectly, in his eyes.

He looked at the milkway, once more. “But, well, about this thing— I guess I’m slightly curious, but I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere, any time soon. As long as I’m still needed here, my feet are planted right on the ground,”

“...mn,” for some reason, hearing that response felt strangely… reassuring. Lee Soohyuk had always had a reliable kind of aura, so maybe it just couldn’t be helped.

“But if you’re really so curious about it, once this is all over, we can go see what’s in there. If it’s really a black hole, I’ll have to come with you to make sure you don’t get stuck again,” he laughed. Kim Roksoo scoffed, turning away. Despite the constant exhaustion and stress Lee Soohyuk was experiencing, his laughter still sounded oddly refreshing.

Kim Roksoo looked at this reliable person, and the healing injuries and light scars littering his arms, and probably many other places that he’d never show anyone, not for as long as he was working as a savior.

Yes, a savior. Despite his sometimes teasing or irritating attitude, Lee Soohyuk was undoubtedly a savior, and he was Kim Roksoo’s savior, as well. His sword was always covered in blood, his hands bleeding, and his body weary. And yet, he was still the strongest and the most reliable— that was the kind of person Lee Soohyuk was.

“You should let that heal,”

“Hm?”

“That,” he motioned to the bandages covering his arms. “Grandma Kim will nag you if you try to train tonight.”

“Are you looking after me?”

“And what if I am?” he sighed. “Clearly, you can’t seem to look after yourself, or give yourself any grace,”

“How blunt,” he was trying to sound laid back and light, but something in his eyes hesitated.

“There’s only one of you,” he said, staring up at the sky. Even if there were thousands of stars in the sky, there was only one of each, their own unique kind. “You’re the only Lee Soohyuk we’ve got,”

Grandma Kim told him that Lee Soohyuk saved many people, but those people would often die, sooner or later. It couldn’t be helped, with the state of the world— you would live one day and then maybe die the next, you would be lucky on this day, and then unlucky the next. Despite these conditions, Lee Soohyuk would always seem to bear the burden of those deaths as if they were his own.

He slid the water bottle back to him. “You should think of your life as something worth saving, too.”

He blinked back at him.

Lee Soohyuk reminded Kim Roksoo of an overpowered action protagonist, and maybe that bothered him a little.

"...and if you die, we're screwed."

"Ha!" he laughed. "You punk."

Because he’d always wondered, since he was little, what would happen if the hero needed saving? Those heroes were so ridiculously, unrealistically selfless and altruistic, that they never spared a second thought for themselves, devoting themselves to their cause like it was a religion. He never thought he’d encounter someone like that in real life, but the apocalypse changed people.

Lee Soohyuk was staring at Kim Roksoo. Because Kim Roksoo was looking up at the night sky, he didn’t know what expression he was making. At last, he picked up the bottle of water that Kim Roksoo had slid over to him and drank, then he placed it down on the cracking concrete with a sigh.

“Kim Roksoo, you have to live,” He said. They were the same words as he’d said once before, though this time his tone was more serious. “No matter what, you have to live until the end,”

“...”

He let out a sigh and leaned back. “When all of this is over, we’ll go for a drink,”

Kim Roksoo hummed. “You’ll pay,”

“Pfft— you shameless bastard, I was trying to create some kind of mood, here, you know?”

Lee Soohyuk’s laughter was somewhat bright as it echoed gently across Seoul’s dark and collapsed cityscape, like a single star that had fallen to Earth.

Friends who shine where I should be.

Since Park Jintae became the ‘king’ of Seoul’s central shelter, Grandma Kim fussed over and scolded him more, because his so-called stubbornness would often get him into trouble. He’d never call that bastard a king even if it meant he’d have to do unpleasant and tiring work or get beat up. 

“Hey! Roksoo! Did you really get beat up again? Are you okay?” 

The person who had a spot next to Kim Roksoo’s on the first floor of the building was an old middle-aged man who would ask him questions as if trying to annoy him on purpose, but he was somewhat depressed. He lost both of his legs to the same monsters who killed his family.

Kim Roksoo only sighed back and sat in his corner. “It’s fine,” he paused, feeling a bit guilty. “...Grandma healed me.” Droplets of water would leak from the ceiling and hit him every few seconds, but he’d grown somewhat used to it. Jang Mansoo watched this, and commented.

“Well? Are you tired sleeping in that terrible spot?”

“You’ve asked me that question a dozen times already, mister,”

“Keke,” he laughed. It was midday, and the cool autumn air would sometimes go in through the tiny cracks on the concrete walls, brushing against his face. 

“Did you get the smallest food portions, again?”

“Little food is better than none,”

“Aigooo,” Jang Mansoo quietly pulled out something from his pocket. “I’ve got this,”

“That’s…?”

“Some crackers— they’re better than nothing,” he said. The packaging was rather dusty, as if it had fallen under a shelf and sat there for three days. “They come in some…” he ripped open the pack, and took one out. It was in the shape of a fish. “Funny shapes.”

Since it seemed to be a kids’ snack, Kim Roksoo supposed it would make sense. It seemed to be aquatic animal themed. Jang Mansoo held it out for him, but Kim Roksoo just pushed it back. “Those are yours. You don’t get that big of a portion anyway,”

Enough to survive off of, but nothing more— that was the portioned food rations given to those who had yet to awaken their abilities or were ‘weak’. Useless. Both him and Jang Mansoo fell into this category.

“You’re always like this,” he said. “You’re at least able to do run errands, compared to me,”

He was laughing, but he seemed a bit bitter.

“...Jinjoo-noona and Seungwon already offered me food.”

“And did you take it?”

“They forced me,” he replied, and Grandma Kim had also force-fed him some food earlier while reprimanding him for getting on Park Jintae’s nerves again and then getting beat up. He’d told her not to use her healing ability on him, since he thought it was a minor injury, but she ignored him and used it anyway.

“Haha! I really don’t get it— those kids and that grandma really care about a skinny little helpless punk like you, huh?” When Kim Roksoo frowned slightly, Jang Mansoo laughed again. “It was a joke— a joke! Even a cripple like me would want to feed you.”

Kim Roksoo pulled out a bottle of water he’d saved, twisting the cap and opening it. He offered it to Jang Mansoo. Even if he was usually given food by others, he’d often refuse, and either way more food did no harm, in their condition.

He sighed, while still offering him his snacks. With reluctance, he rummaged into the small plastic packaging. Food was scarce, and Park Jintae and his lackeys usually raided abandoned convenience stores and old buildings for whatever they could scrounge together— even expiring meat was at least edible.

“It’s…?”

“A jellyfish,” Jang Mansoo said. “It even has a somewhat grumpy expression, how fitting,”

“The only thing it has are straight lines,”

“Simplicity can get things across pretty well, just so you know,” he said, slowly popping his own fish-shaped cracker in his mouth. Jang Mansoo chewed slowly, as if to savor each bite of that tiny cracker. Then he pulled out another, and it had a similar silhouette, though with more visible fins— perhaps it was a shark. “My daughter was studying marine biology,”

Jang Mansoo did not often open up about his past, so Kim Roksoo said nothing. 

“It was her first year in college. She was probably your age,”

His voice was quiet.

“Have you ever been to the sea, Kim Roksoo?”

“I’ve seen it from afar,”

“Is that all? How pitiful. I’ve been on day trips to the sea many times, keke,” he said. He pulled out another, and found a seastar. “The sea is very fascinating, so you should go, one day,”

He stared at the tiny jellyfish cracker. “You’ll have to take me there,”

“Hm? You must have really gone crazy after getting beat up. What can a cripple like me even do in a place like that? Swim?” he laughed again. The tips of his knees shook.

He sighed. “I’m not crazy. There’s lots of things you can do,” Kim Roksoo said. “You can look at the view, you can pick up sea shells, you can sunbathe, and go fishing, mister. I don’t think I’d go swimming if I ever went to the sea, either.” 

Kim Roksoo was staring at the crack in the ceiling above him. There was one small reason he chose this spot, and it was because light would fall through the gaps in the night, and sometimes, he could catch a glimpse of that tiny star that was no longer lonely.

“Your legs might not work, but everything else does,” Kim Roksoo was unsure of what he should say to people like Jang Mansoo, who no longer had any hope or even a will to live. He himself was also a person who didn’t waste his time hoping for good things, neither did he like to think wishfully only to be disappointed later on, but he had a reason to live right now, at the very least, and it was probably the same as Jang Mansoo’s.

‘You have to live’

Jang Mansoo was silent, but his pressed lips seemed to quiver. Kim Roksoo slid over some water, and he quietly had a sip. 

“It’s a secret, but I might get more food portions after this,”

“What?”

Jang Mansoo simply smiled in an almost mischievous sort of way, but did not elaborate further. “Don’t tell anyone, though. And if you’re feeling hungry, you should ask for food from me, keke! Though of course, I might deny you,”

“...”

The world was an utter mess, ripping itself apart by the seams, terrorizing those that dare to survive at every turn. In so many stories, such disorderly and cruel situations would always be considered as the ‘natural’ state of the world, that every human was selfish and self-serving at heart. And it was true— humans were very, very selfish, and Kim Roksoo was no exception.

But, surely, if humans were so cruel towards each other, they would not have made it this far. Surely, the world was kinder than in the words inside those pages. 

Empathy was a feature instilled within humans just as selfishness was, and it was their foundation.

The world was filled with many stars.

Bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon…

The buildings were collapsing. 

The air was filled with shrieks and roars that drilled into your ears, and the earth was set alight in a hellish blaze.

Kim Roksoo could no longer see the sky, as it was covered in a thick cloud of miasma— but between those wisps and billows of dark smoke, he could make out silhouettes.

The stars were falling.

Searching for my friends…

Wherever he went, whether it be when he was rushing down the crumbling central shelter’s emergency stairs, running across the streets like a madman, or bolted away from the grasp of monsters as bile climbed up his throat, it was all the same— people were fighting. People were dying.

Every time, the words said to him were the same, ‘Go’.

“Kim Roksoo, go!”

“Hurry up you crazy bastard, get the hell out of here!”

“Go, Roksoo-hyung!”

“Run, get out!”

And he ran and ran like he always did, leaving behind those people.

…Bubbling away.

Jang Mansoo had awakened an ability— it was probably what he had gotten so excited about. It was a shield-like power that he used to defend against the wrath of the monsters, even if it meant he could go nowhere at all. That depressed bastard was cackling and laughing like a madman, but his knees kept shaking and trembling. 

Lee Jinoo screamed and yelled with her ability, her voice broadcasting over the entire area like a distress signal or an emergency evacuation call. She kept screaming and screaming and barking out directions until her voice started to become sore, and Kim Roksoo prayed that she wouldn’t ever stop. He heard a loud exclamation of Lee Seungwon’s name, and then the sound of something guttural, like a choke— the grotesque sound of blood bubbling and flowing out of a tight throat. It was so sickening that Kim Roksoo could barely bring himself to finally try to tune it out.

Even that bastard Park Jintae stayed behind, yelling at him to run away with fear in his eyes at the approaching shadows of monstrosities beyond their comprehension. 

Grandma Kim—

“..eugh..!” Kim Roksoo felt like he couldn’t breathe. He was quietly hiding in an alleyway, under a pile of trash, trying to mask his scent with something so that they wouldn’t smell the scent of his blood. It hurt. Everything hurt. But somehow, the huge tear on his arm and the bruises on his knees seemed to numb more and more as the memories of those things he saw continued to burn under his eyelids as if trying to brand itself there.

He couldn’t breathe.

It was hard to breathe— h-he—

“....d…damn it.”

He really had time to cry?

Really?

…really…?

…

He looked up through the gaps in the alleyway, at the clearing in the sky.

Only those two little stars remained, from the corner of his vision.

There were many stars that had fallen. Quietly, he mumbled his wish under his breath.

…kim roksoo, the useless bastard who wouldn’t even be a filling meal for monsters, just wanted to roll over and die.

Bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon…

He met Choi Jungsoo on Orientation Day at the company Kim Roksoo had applied to. Apparently, they were both entering the body department as newbies, and were assigned to the same field team— Lee Soohyuk’s Team 1.

His suit wasn’t a good fit on him and his tie was a mess. He was slightly taller than him and more muscular than Kim Roksoo could ever hope to be, though he was a bit awkward in contrast to his stature. He tried to talk to him a few times, and smiled at him, trying to make small talk, and Kim Roksoo just replied back every now and then.

He looked a lot neater during the interview compared to now, and in response to that Choi Jungsoo simply said that he’d helped out with an accident involving some crumbling buildings on the way to orientation with a sheepish sort of expression.

What a kind person. “You did well, Choi Jungsoo-ssi.”

He looked at him in a strange way after he said that, though Kim Roksoo didn’t really care.

Finally, Lee Soohyuk, the person who was essentially the figurehead of the company, came into the auditorium. His expression looked tired, fatigued— it was as if there was a deep weight behind his eyes. When he looked around and caught sight of the two of them, the two newbies who’d been assigned to his team, something flickered in his sullen eyes. Kim Roksoo simply stared at him, and Choi Jungsoo also seemed to be looking at him in an ordinary sort of way, flashing a light smile, and then finally that tiny flicker ignited into a suppressed laugh. Even after all this time, it still sounded strangely refreshing. 

Kim Roksoo was a little relieved as he quickly looked away, and then he heard Lee Soohyuk laugh harder. It was almost embarrassing. Even the person next to him, Choi Jungsoo, reacted the same way. 

It was the first time the both of them ever spoke to each other, but Choi Jungsoo was sharp despite his kind, golden retriever-like appearance, and they worked pretty well. Kim Roksoo honestly didn’t think they’d ever grown any closer than just two newbie employees who happened to be on the same team, but then he started spouting nonsense about being his hyung.

“Huh? Your birthday is on November 8th too? Haha!” Choi Jungsoo laughed as he fiddled with Kim Roksoo’s work ID. “What time were you born?”

“Give that back,” Kim Roksoo tiredly said with a sigh, straightening his papers. Today was fortunately a slow day.

“You have to answer first, Roksoo~”

Since when were they one a first-name basis? It had only just been a few days since they officially started working. He closed his eyes and gave it some thought. “I think it was at night.”

“Ho? Really? Then that makes me the hyung!” he exclaimed cheerfully. “You have to respect your senior and call me hyung now, maknae-ya~”

“What? Like hell I will,” this guy was ridiculous. While Choi Jungsoo was laughing, he swiped the card back. “Get back to work,”

He frowned. “You’re really no fun at all, Kim Roksoo, so strict,”

Sometimes, Lee Soohyuk or their senior teammates would get in the way of their disputes, scolding or teasing them in the process. It was bothersome, really, Choi Jungsoo was quite a chatterbox— he never seemed to run out of things to talk about.

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Don’t have one,”

“Everyone has one,”

“I don’t,”

“Well, if I were to buy you a shirt, what color would you want it to be?”

“Will you really buy me a shirt if I answer?”

“Aigooo, look at this cheeky bastard,”

“I guess I like dark colors. Now buy me a shirt.”

“Whaaaat?” he pouted. “That’s such a boring answer! Would it kill you to choose something more colorful?”

“You want me to choose a more colorful color? Are you hearing yourself?”

“Just a secondary color, or something. Don’t tell me you’d wear black all the time,”

“I didn’t say black,” he sighed. “I said dark colors. Gray, dark red, navy, those work.”

“Still boring,”

He groaned. “Seriously, go back to work,”

“Not until you answer,”

“I already did?”

“Choose another,”

When Kim Roksoo clicked his tongue in irritation, Choi Jungsoo laughed again. He was rather annoying when he was comfortable. 

“...the sea,”

“Hm?”

“I like the color of the sea,” he paused. “It’s— it’s blue, right?”

Jungsoo blinked, before laughing again. His laughter would sometimes be a bit loud, but they sounded like bursting firecrackers at a new year’s party. “Oho? The color of the sea? How abstract~ Turns out even Roksoo would want to sound cool, too huh?”

“What are you saying, you stupid punk?”

“Blue is a bit basic, you know~ almost everyone I know likes blue!”

“Yeah? What color do you like then?”

“Green,”

“I know five people who like that color. What, do you like the color of vomit?”

He gasped in a sarcastic way. “You’re so mean, Kim Roksoo! Green is the color of shrubbery, forests— nature. It’s a great color, and it even makes you creative! Did you know that?”

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

“It’s not nonsense!”

They bickered like that for another hour, maybe, before Lee Soohyuk came in with his fifth mug of coffee to scold them. Hearing the topic of their debate, Lee Soohyuk simply sighed. “Are you both kindergarteners? Hm? Why are you debating over colors?”

“...jungsoo started it.” Kim Roksoo mumbled, and the former glared sharply at him. For a person who was always compared with a golden retriever, he looked like a very angry chihuahua at that moment.

“Aigoo, I can’t leave you two for even a second, hm?” He sat down at the head of the meeting room table, where he usually sat, with Choi Jungsoo and Kim Roskoo on either side of him. “If you’re talking about good colors, I personally think purple is nice,”

“Huh?” 

“I mean it’s a pretty unique color, some people can pull it off better than other people, and it used to be pretty valuable in the past. It was a royal color, and a ton of people liked it.” he said with a bit of a smug look. “I’ve personally been told I look great in it,”

“Huh, I didn’t think our Team Leader-nim could be such a narcissist,”

Lee Soohyuk’s previous smile sharpened at Choi Jungsoo’s remark. “Oho? What was that?”

“Hm? I didn’t say a thing~”

“So you say, huh? You know, Jungsoo, I think now would be a good time to improve your sword technique. What do you think, hm?”

“Ah— w-well…” he suddenly slinged his arm around Kim Roksoo’s shoulder. “That would be great, but see, me and Kim Roksoo have a ton of work to deal with, haha! Look at that stack, huh Roksoo?”

“Really now?”

“Really!”

Choi Jungsoo was now nervously side-eyeing Kim Roksoo with a desperate, ‘please help me’ kind of look. Naturally, Kim Roksoo sighed, picked up a piece of paper, before staring at it, humming in a thoughtful-sounding way. “I think it’s really not that much work, there’s only Choi Jungsoo’s portion left, even I could handle that alone,”

He was lying, but Kim Roksoo tried to suppress a smug smirk. Choi Jungsoo looked like he wanted to strangle him and then jump out the window while Lee Soohyuk was humming back.

“So how about it?”

“...can we reschedule…?”

Kim Roksoo snickered. Lee Soohyuk looked at him. “Sounds like you’d like some extra training too, huh Roksoo? Hm?”

“...I politely decline,”

“I politely insist,”

And that was how they ended up at the company gymnasium, in Lee Soohyk’s training session from the 8th circle of hell. 

Lee Soohyuk was a lot more relaxed, but annoying, nowadays. Choi Jungsoo had also become a lot less stiff, and liked to fool around, too. It was somewhat troublesome.

Kim Roksoo had unfortunately decided that he preferred them this way.

I don’t want to be alone.

Choi Jungsoo winced, touching his side. “I can’t believe we just got pummeled by a bunch of people and not some monster,”

“First time?”

He turned towards Kim Roksoo from where they were lying face-up on the concrete, staring at the auburn sky. “Uh, I guess I got a little roughed up a few times during sword practice? You’re telling me this isn’t yours?” he said, before his bruised lip let out a few chuckles. “What, does that mean you were some delinquent back when you were a teenager? Hm? How unexpected~”

“For a guy who got beaten to a pulp, you sure have a lot to say,”

“Ah, forgive me delinquent-nim, I spoke out of line,” he said, raising his hands up in mock surrender. 

“Tch. Don’t be ridiculous. I didn’t get into fights in high school.”

“So middle school?”

“No,”

He gasped in a sarcastic kind of way. “Don’t tell me you were causing trouble as a grade schooler,”

“It was none of that— I couldn’t even meet the attendance requirement, let alone have time cause some sort of ruckus,”

“Huh?” he said, confused. “Why? Were your parents the kind that kept taking you out on vacations or something?”

“Of course not, you idiot,” he sighed. 

“Don’t tell me you were a troublemaker who would cry when getting dropped off,” Choi Jungsoo’s tone was light as if he was joking, but there was uncertainty behind his remarks.

He rolled his eyes. “No.”

“So then…?

Kim Roksoo was silent for a while.

“Well,” he fiddled with his ripped combat gloves absentmindedly “My parents got into an accident and died when I was eight, I guess? So I lived with my uncle, but he wasn’t really a great guy, and there were some problems, and I’d get asked about absences and my attendance all the time by my teachers since I kept not showing up without a word from my uncle, and I think I got held back? It’s difficult to remember.”

“Difficult… to remember?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “I guess. It’s not really a time worth remembering, but I guess that’s all.”

“....”

Choi Jungsoo was silent, for a short while, and Kim Roksoo pressed his lips together. Right, well, suddenly bringing up a topic like that was probably a bit of a mood-killer. The pain in his stomach was starting to become more apparent.

“Kim Roksoo, what were you doing when the cataclysm hit?”

He paused, giving it some thought. “I was working at my part time job, and then the building collapsed, and I got stuck under some rubble. Our Team Leader-nim saved me a  while later."

He hummed back, and something about his voice sounded more grounded as they started up at the faint wisps of passing clouds. “I was on a bus to my college entrance exams.”

“....”

“I ran off that bus when we crashed into a building and helped a few people out. Then I moved around a few shelters, hopped between different travelling survivor groups, while trying to find my way back to my hometown.”

“...”

“I got there, and it was destroyed.” He said. It sounded like he was trying not to cry, but his expression was numb. “Everyone was dead, and even my family’s house was destroyed. I felt like I could die at that moment, but I didn’t, because if I did, my grandma would probably beat me with her cane in the afterlife and my mom would smack me over my head while yelling at me.”

He let out a tiny chuckle, shoulders shaking. Kim Roksoo was looking at him, listening. The story reminded him slightly of a certain middle-aged man with a crooked smile and unfunny jokes.

“So I went back, hopped between shelters again– I think I found my way into a central shelter, and then… that incident happened.”

His expression darkened. Kim Roksoo felt his throat tighten.

“Where were you when it happened?” Choi Jungsoo asked.

“I was at a central shelter in Seoul,”

“Yeah?” he had a sad look in his eyes. “It must’ve been difficult— I heard it was hard to run away when you were crammed in a building. I was out hunting for some food. The other people with me died.”

“Most of the people at my shelter also…” he trailed off, and Choi Jungsoo nodded. “You were in Seomyeon? That was where the unranked monster appeared.”

“That’s right,” he nodded. “It happened just a little while after the shelters were destroyed.”

“...”

“Hey, do you know where I met our team leader?”

“Where?”

“It was during that horrible incident, too. I survived it, and also I saw our team leader fight,” Choi Jungsoo’s eyes that were reflecting the clouds in the sky brightened, before darkening once more. Then, a few tears beaded at the corners of his eyes as he spoke with a voice that was steadily trembling.

“...I really thought I was in hell that time, you know?”

…

Kim Roksoo had never seen Choi Jungsoo cry, beyond just tearing up when he was moved. It was different from his usual self who seemed to keep his guard up.

He was wiping at his bruised eye while sniffling. It was a bit awkward, but Kim Roksoo wasn't sure what he should do in that situation. His eyes were teary, and he looked like he was recalling some terrible things. For Kim Roksoo, the memories of that tragic incident were locked away at the back of his mind. He really didn't want to think about it, because once he started to, it would be difficult to stop.

“Ah, this seriously sucks. Isn't this like our 4th mission? And we already screwed up?” Choi Jungsoo said, wiping away his snot. “I'm totally useless,” He laughed a bit as if he was making fun of himself. “Man, my shin still hurts from being kicked!”

Pat.

“?”

Pat pat.

Kim Roksoo was lightly hitting his shoulder as if to console him, watching out for any sports that might feel sore. If it was his first time getting beat up for making a mistake, it must feel pretty terrible. “You can put some ice on that and your other bruises and I have some good bruise balm.”

“....” Choi Jungsoo was staring at him again. It was starting to feel awkward so he changed the topic.

“Does your family study sword arts?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, they do,” he replied, blinking. “We research different traditional techniques, but the Choi sword art techniques were passed down from my ancestors, I'm pretty sure. Almost everyone in the family knows it, and I was trained by my grandpa since I was little. I'd stay out training and practicing with my cousins all day until I got sunburnt.”

The warm sky was beginning to bleed into deep cool hues of blues and purples, and the stars that were overshadowed were beginning to twinkle above Korea's slowly developing land. Kim Roksoo continued to listen as he took in that slowly changing view. Choi Jungsoo was rather talkative.

“My house was pretty big, you know. But it was also pretty crowded. I shared lots of my things with my cousins and got hand-me-downs all the time,” he chuckled. “My school's building was also pretty old, apparently it was built by the people in my village. There was this one floorboard that would creak all the time and it was a little annoying, but some seniors made up a ghost story about it to scare their underclassmen with. It's also a great site for tests of courage- I did all the time, and it's really not that scary to be honest, but the old sort of haunted atmosphere's pretty cool.”

“Mn,”

“I think my family also owned a paddy field and there were tons of farmers in our village. I used to help out a lot too. You ever farmed before, Roksoo? Bet ya've never even picked up a shovel, haha!”

Sometimes, when Choi Jungsoo was talking while on the verge of laughing, his dialect would slip out.

I’ll fly away.

“Hey, Kim Roksoo, you said you wanted to see the sea, right?”

“Hm?”

“You said your favorite color was the color of the sea, but I mean, how could you even decide that when you've never even seen it?”

“Well, I mean…”

“I've been to the sea maybe once or twice- I live up in the mountains so not that often. What color do you think it is?”

“Blue…?”

“Yeah, a ton of different shades of blue, but sometimes it could be greener, y'know?” He smiled. “And sometimes, it's white when it sparkles,”

“Sparkles?”

“Yeah, the sunlight makes it do that, like in anime scenes, you know? You read webnovels on break all the time so you must've seen some anime at least once, right? Or at least Saturday Morning cartoons!”

“I…”

“You really don't watch that stuff? Geez, ya've got a screen with endless possibilities in this day an’ age and ya decide to just read! Haha!”

Choi Jungsoo was laughing a lot. His laughter was like sunshine in the darkening dusk.

“Sometimes I can see the sea in the distance from the mountain— Hey wait, isn't this district near a beach?”

“What-”

Choi Jungsoo practically leaped to his feet, though it seemed to hurt a little for him, but he just laughed again before pulling Kim Roksoo up, stumbling a bit.

“Can you even stand properly?”

“Pfft, It's just a little limp from the mission, I’ll live.”

Kim Roksoo sighed and let him sling a hand over his shoulder to help him up. “We should go to where the rest of the team is, they’re probably wondering why we haven’t caught up.” 

“Wait a minute, I know which direction it is— you just need to get a quick glimpse,” Choi Jungsoo said in a light tone, dragging him down the street. They were in a transitional area between developed and destroyed land, though most monsters had been cleared out. He kept looking left and right while mumbling, before finally stopping. “Here, this should be enough of a view!”

Choi Jungsoo pointed forward, and Kim Roksoo’s eyes widened. In a gap between two abandoned office buildings, he could see the sea at a short distance away.

The tides rolled in and out, pulling in waves that crashed into the shore. The sunlight was fading, all but sinking below the horizon, but still, with its remaining flickers of light, it made the sea sparkle in a bright dazzling way. 

Choi Jungsoo was laughing. “You’re staring so hard— it’s just water,” he slumped down and sat on the asphalt, watching. If it was Kim Roskoo’s still expression or the sea, he wasn’t sure.

“...”

It was true, the sea didn’t seem to just be blue. There was white sea foam, a sparkling surface, and it would reflect the hues of the sky in a gentle way as if it were a translucent canvas, inviting warm tones.

“You probably can’t smell it from here, but the sea’s got a real salty scent— you don’t need to take a sip of it to know,” he chuckled, the shadows of the distant sea reflecting in his eyes. “Have you ever gone fishing? My auntie caught a big swordfish once— it was gigantic, my kid-self didn’t even know they had fish named after swords. Crazy, right?”

The sea was a little greener, and it was beautiful.

“Hey, do you like stars?”

“...somewhat.”

“You stare at the sky a lot. Is stargazing your hobby, or is it just staring off into space?”

“It’s nothing worth mentioning— It’s just— it’s more interesting to look at compared to anything else.”

He hummed back. “Kim Roksoo, have you ever been to an aquarium?”

“I haven’t,”

“Me neither,” he shrugged. “It looked cool, though, so I was hoping to try going to one while I was in the city— oh, but then the end of the world hit and I’m pretty sure the monsters ate ‘em all,”

“Not all monsters eat fish,”

“You know what I mean,” he sighed, staring off. “What fish would you wanna see, if you could? I think I’d wanna see that sword fish again— I heard there were other sword-like fish out there too, like sailfish and marlins? It’d be cool if I could ever catch one,”

“It…” he trailed off. His thoughts absentmindedly wandered towards some kids’ crackers. He mumbled back, “I guess… jellyfish,”

“Jellyfish? He hummed back. “Wow, that answer’s a lot cuter than I thought. I thought you’d wanna see a shark, or an octopus, or something!” 

“Cute…?” Kim Roksoo frowned.

“Yeah, I mean, jellyfish? It sounds like some new agar-agar variant,”

“You’re telling me you don’t know what a jellyfish is?”

“Of course I know!” he said, his frown looking more like a pout. “I was just saying that, I don’t know, they’re a lot mushier and cuter than, say, any other fish. It can’t even be called a fish,”

“Why not?”

“I mean it doesn’t even have a tail? And it’s got all those slimy tentacles— I don’t think it even has eyes or a mouth, or scales. It’s so un-fish-like”

Kim Roskoo himself had no idea what the qualifications to be a fish were, but simply sighed back in response. “Whatever you say,”

“Man, talking about fish makes me hungry. I miss having fish stew…”

He hummed. “Like the kind your dad’s good at making? I think they sell some a few blocks away from HQ.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. How’d you know that?”

“You told me.” he simply said. Choi Jungsoo blinked back in confusion. “I’m surprised you forgot about all those random stories you told to me when you just kept going on tangents all the time.” Stories about Choi Jungsoo’s family didn’t come up as often, but sometimes they would when the situation reminded him of a more mundane childhood memory.

“...you remembered?”

“Yeah,” he laughed slightly. Did he really forget that was Kim Roksoo’s one ability?

“What else do you remember?”

“A lot of things,” too many, if he were being honest. “You talk way too much, has anyone ever told you that you sound like a broken radio? It’s like there aren’t any pauses or commas or periods, just a continuous unpunctuated rant,”

“Eh?”

He hummed. “Should I list it all? You told me your favorite color was green because it was nature’s colors so it’s  supposed to be profound and meaningful, or something ridiculous like that. The first time you rode a bicycle, you crashed into a well and almost fell in. You tried to sneak out with your cousins once to go play in the village at night but it started raining and you had to come back because a bunch of dogs were chasing you down, then got scolded by your grandma. You like stupid reality prank shows and watch compilations of them all the time on the internet, and you had a huge comic book collection that you’re pretty sure was torn up after a few waves of monster attacks. You like sweets, but didn’t like them when they were too sweet for your preferences, and you dislike bitter things unless they had some other ‘depth’ to their flavor, like coffee, and…”

Choi Jungsoo was staring at him, eyes widening with each second, mouth beginning to gape. It was so funny that Kim Roksoo almost wanted to laugh, but he just kept rattling off just so he’d be even more baffled. 

“And when you took a bus for the first time, you…” he cut himself off with a cough and when blood dripped out of his nose, and Choi Jungsoo almost practically screamed.

“What the hell?! You’ve got a nosebleed!?”

Kim Roksoo tried to rub it off with his hand. It was a vibrant red that stood out against his torn black gloves. When more dripped out, Choi Jungsoo all but wiped it off for him a handkerchief he happened to be carrying with him in his pocket. 

“You crazy punk, are you seriously bleeding…?”

“...shut up.”

He sighed. “You’re even sweaty and feverish— you just got beat up and now you’re using your ability?”

“It’s just a little,” he lightly hit Kim Roksoo’s shoulder as if to scold him. “Ow.” 

“I didn’t even hit you that hard,” he chuckled. “bastard.”

They decided to head back by that point, since it was slowly getting dark, and their walkie talkies already buzzed, confused seniors asking where they’d gone.

“Roksoo,”

“Hm?”

“I think there’s a different color I also like,”

“Oh? Didn’t you say that green was your favorite and that it was unique? I guess you’ve decided it was too basic,”

“I’m going to trip you, you punk. Green is still great! It’s a secondary favorite color— secondary! People can have multiple favorite colors,”

“Uh-huh, but if you rattle off the entire rainbow, it’d be the same as having none,”

“You’re seriously no fun,” he sighed, grumbling. “...you know, have you noticed that when you’re using your ability your eyes get a bit red,”

“Hm?”

He pointing straight at his pupils as if Kim Roksoo had no idea where his eyeballs were located. “There’s this little red glow to it, I don’t know— it reminds me of that red dot in the corner of a camera when you’re recording a video,” he shrugged. “I guess I think it’s a little cool— like back when we were doing a check on the Bronze Guild, your eyes were like that while looking a bit serious, I think one of the employees were a bit freaked out,”

He laughed again as they made their way down the street.

“Sometimes, your eyes also look like that when you’re being annoying too— but when it’s like that, it usually means you’re super focused on something,” he said. “Well, I guess I really do think that’s pretty cool Though you should really stop overusing it if you know you’ll get sick after, you crazy bastard,”

“...”

“Though, I guess, what I’m trying to say is that… I think I’ve started to like red a bit more,”

“...”

The twilight had faded into a gentle evening, and when Kim Roksoo looked up at the sky, he saw three tiny stars. He wasn't sure how constellations worked, but if he tried to thread those three stars together, surely they could be called one. The only constellation in the sky that evening in Seoul's fading skies.

Far ahead…

“You’ve been singing that song for ages now,”

“What, you don’t like it?” Choi Jungsoo asked, fiddling with the hem of his gloves as he began absentmindedly humming again, under his breath. 

“Where’d you even find that song?”

“It’s from some kid’s program, I think,”

Kim Roksoo scoffed, smirking. “You watch kid shows?”

“I just stumbled across it that one time on accident while I was bored!”

“And you have all the lyrics memorized by accident too?”

“Aigooo, shut up, you jerk,” he huffed, elbowing him in mock-retaliation. “I just thought it was a cute song— you said you liked jellyfish, right? You should totally love this song!”

“I said I wanted to see one, not that it was my favorite,”

Choi Jungsoo shook his head. “You and your technicalities— are you gonna drink that soda or what?”

He stuck out his tongue. “It’s sour,”

“Tsk, you ungrateful punk. You can be annoyingly childish sometimes, you know that?” he huffed, taking the can out of his hands. At that moment, a certain someone walked over to them. “Oh, hyung!”

Lee Soohyuk waved back with a tired smile as he approached, putting his cellphone in his pocket.

Kim Roksoo assessed his current state. As expected, his broken nose was covered with bandages. It made him look sort of funny. “That took a while,”

“Of course it did, I was on the phone with the director for ages while the nurse was trying to bandage my other arm. It was so awkward, you know? He was staring at me while tightening them as if he felt sorry for me,” he sighed. Choi Jungsoo passed over a can of soda for him. It was mainly purple, like the gradients in a galaxy with a few different fruit-planet motifs drawn in. “Oh?”

“A gift for our hardworking Team Leader-hyung~”

“What are you standing around for? Sit down,”

“Aigoo,” He slumped down onto the seat they saved for him beside Choi Jungsoo, before drinking the can of soda. He gulped three times before finally stopping and exhaling in a refreshed sort of way. “Ahhh, that’s better— my voice is sore as hell. I wish this was an ice cold beer instead,”

Choi Jungsoo did a mock-gasp. “Talking about alcohol? In front of your innocent juniors? Team Leader-nim, how could you!”

“Didn’t you down a whole bottle at the last company party?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”

“I do,” Kim Roksoo piped in.

“Hey—”

“An innocent junior, was it?”

“Well at least I’m not a lightweight,”

The team leader’s smile sharpened. “Didn’t we agree not to bring that up?”

“Two extra breaks wouldn’t be enough to bribe me to not talk about you and your secret idol-actor aegyo persona,” as if to tease him, Choi Jungsoo replicated it with his fingers, donning an overly cute expression that didn’t look cute on his annoying face at all. “Saranghae~” 

His right eye twitched. “Jungsoo,”

“What was that song you sang? It was from that popular boy group from before the apocalypse, right? Enhypen?” he burst into laughter. “How cool, team leader~”

“You—”

“Pfft—” Kim Roksoo started laughing, a record of the incident playing in his mind. Really, it was a rather unexpected but silly sight. It didn’t matter that Lee Soohyuk bribed them into deleting the video of it, he couldn’t delete Kim Roksoo’s recordings even if he tried. “Haha!”

“...Huh? Kim Roksoo?”

He laughed slightly harder. “Team Leader, have you considered debuting as an idol instead of being an actor? People would go crazy over a singing voice like that, you know? Hm?”

Despite Kim Roksoo’s annoying remarks, Lee Soohyuk felt like he could do nothing more than scoff. “Is that so?”

Sometimes when he laughed or even chuckled, something in his eyes would flicker and his shoulders would shake, just the slightest bit. , and Kim Roksoo didn’t seem to realize it.His laughter was like the twinkle of a tiny star in a vast sea of black.

Choi Jungsoo took Kim Roksoo's can of lemonade with a small smile, continuing his song.

“Far away…”

I see the jelly star.

Kim Roksoo's can of soda was facing towards Choi Jungsoo and Lee Soohyuk's cans, who were closer to each other. It was arranged in a similar way to a certain group of three tiny stars in the sky.

“Familiar faces…”

Await me there.

“Purple, green…”

And scarlet jellyfish.

He smiled. “Finally…”

We're free.

“....”

“Roksoo-yah,” Lee Soohyuk smiled at him as if to greet him while he was knelt on the last of his strength. Kim Roksoo collapsed and fell to his knees across from him. He was still smiling, speaking in his weak voice. “You look terrible,”

He wanted to bite back and say that he should look at his own condition before trying to scold him, but couldn’t bring himself to even talk.

“Backup's getting here soon.”

Those company members that were dispatched here would be met with a terribly gruesome scene.

“You should tell them about that claw lodged in your arm. It looks pretty bad.”

Blood was spilling from his lips. He wanted to tell him to stop talking, but couldn't.

“...” Lee Soohyuk closed his eyes, for a moment, and Kim Roksoo wanted to force them open. His eyes drew to the scene surrounding him. The members of team 1 were all left lying around them, unmoving. A foolish part of him wanted to think they were passed out. Sleeping. He wanted to think that his seniors were sleeping. He wanted to think that Choi Jungsoo was sleeping.

“Roksoo-yah,” he said. “After this, you have to live, alright?”

“...”

“You need to. And…” he paused, his grip on the sword lodged into the ground weakening and his voice quieter. Even so, he was still smiling. “We leave the rest to you.”

The last flickers of light vanished from his eyes, and it was as if watching a star become extinguished before his eyes in the grave of a constellation, leaving one lonesome star.

You have to live.

“...it's too much.” He mumbled as the sirens neared. “It's too much, Team Leader.”

Bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon,

And again, the red jellyfish lived on.

“Is that him? Kim Roksoo?”

There were two portraits in front of him. One was of a smiling young man, the golden sunlight bathing him in a warm glow, highlighting his light brown hair. The sea which was green and sparkling shone behind him. They took that picture on a small beach trip.

“He’s not even crying. How cold.”

The second picture was of a person with long hair, tied neatly with a hair tie. There was something bright twinkling behind him, lighting up his features, a small smile pulling at his lips. It was on the day of the opening of the first planetarium in Seoul since the Cataclysm, and Kim Roksoo worked way too hard to win three free admission tickets at a company raffle, even trading his vacation days with his co-workers for them. 

“Will this person really be leading Team 1…? Just looking at his face is giving me the chills.”

White chrysanthemums and incense sat before their portraits. The room was well-conditioned, but Kim Roksoo felt strangely hot, sweat trailing down his neck.

“After everything Lee Soohyuk did for him, not even a tear?”

“You have to live, alright?”

“How monstrous.”

Day after day after day, the lonely red jellyfish swimming across the empty dull sea and staring up at the stars above, looking for the brightest pair.

Kim Roksoo walked down the concrete road, a steaming dumpling in his hands. Today’s evacuation city infrastructure meeting shouldn’t be long— as he was making his way, he suddenly stopped.

There was a poster for a certain brand of soda with jellyfish mascots that had released a new flavor, lime. A childish and cute depiction of three jellyfish holding hands in a circle, all together, with their unique expressions.

He walked out of the convenience store with one metal can in his hands. He cracked it open and had a small sip.

“...”

It was sour.

He continued to swim even if it was tiring, before he stumbled across a colorful world unlike his own. 

Let’s all gather and dance together, bubble

“Weak human!”

It was unfamiliar, bright, yet warm. He made many new friends, and he learned to properly smile and cry again.

Bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon

“Cale-nim,”

“Dongsaeng,”

He taught himself to trust and allowed himself to love, even if the fear of loss lingered.

Go away loneliness, don't come back ever.

“Lee Soohyuk,”

“You're speaking to me so casually, you punk,” 

They were at the rooftop of the central shelter in Seomyeon, on a different Earth than Cale's. The stars were sparkling in a dazzling way in the sky.

“Do you see that crack in the sky?”

“Huh? A crack?”

“That,”

“You mean—- are you talking about the milkyway…?”

“Are you curious about what's at the center of it?”

He blinked, before huffing with a somewhat tired smile. “You always say strange things, you crazy punk.”

“It's your own fault that you listen,” 

“Well, everything you've said has been correct, so far- how can I not trust the words of an oracle?” He sighed. “I guess that ability of yours can see things like what's at the center of a galaxy, then?”

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “So then, do you want to know what's there, hyung? In that giant crack.”

Lee Soohyuk's eyes widened slightly when Cale called him that, but simply listened. The purple and blue hues of the night sky reflected in his eyes. He was right, purple did suit him.

“The answer is…” he hummed. “I don't know.”

A beat. “I'm sorry?”

“I'm saying that I have no idea,”

“Then…?”

“Then nothing— I don't know. Do you think this foresight power gives me the ability to know the answers to the universe or something? Hm?”

He sighed. “Seriously, you…”

“Hyung,” he quieted, again, eyes focused as he listened. Cale huffed. “Do you see that tiny star, over there?”

“There’s lots of stars in the sky, Roksoo. It'd be hard to point out just one.”

“Well, there’s this one particular star,” he said, “that’s always been here, in the face of Seoul’s light pollution and all, remarkably.”

Lee Soohyuk raised a brow but was still listening.

“It’s very tiny, very weak— it’s hard to really call it a star. More like a white dot, to be honest.” he said. “But it’s there. It’s always there, all the time.”

“...”

“And sometimes it’s by itself, and sometimes it’d be between a dozen stars, like this,” he continued. “That star was curious about the milky way that was far away, where all its friends went, and it thinks that maybe they’re all in that crack in the center of the universe.”

Kim Roksoo tapped his fingers against the rusty railings. “And it ventured, very very far, alone, until it found its old friends, again.”

“...did he spend a long time alone?”

“It travelled alone for quite a while.”

“That sounds a bit lonely.”

“It’s an inanimate object, hyung,”

Lee Soohyuk stared as if he couldn’t believe what Cale had just said, and he almost laughed.

“But it’s here now,” he said. The stars seemed to resonate just slightly more than before. “And, along the way, it found its own friends, too.”

“Is that star happy now?”

He would’ve liked to say something annoying, like reminding Lee Soohyuk that they were talking about an inanimate object. But that annoying remark melted at the tip of his tongue, and instead he said, “Well, it isn’t alone anymore,” Kim Roksoo replied. “It’s getting there.”

Lee Soohyuk smiled at him, and then laughed, the sound still refreshing in spite of the fatigue lying underneath, as if he was relieved. Kim Roksoo’s pupil resonated faintly as a record took form behind his eyes.

“How nice,”

When Cale looked up towards the brightly shining night sky, he could see three stars, forming a constellation that only he knew of. 

The red grumpy jellyfish found the jelly star he was looking for so desperately.

Bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon, let’s all gather, sing together, bubble

That red jellyfish had made many, many friends, and even defeated a big bad and ugly fish that was causing trouble in the sea and sky. 

He swam from star to star, before finally settling on the planet where all his friends were and taking a break from swimming so much. He even learns to be less grumpy.

Bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon, hey, rainbow, smile for me, ta-da!

“And then what happened to the red jellyfish?”

“Well,” Choi Jungsoo shrugged as he fanned himself under the stifling heat of the afternoon. Cale sighed and slid a glass of water across the table. “He’s with his friends again, and they hang out all the time.”

Raon tilted his head, and Sui Khan dusted off some crumbs from his face. “Really?”

“Yep,”

Cale let out a huff as he stared at Choi Jungsoo from across the table. “There’s so many plotholes and it’s completely all over the place.”

He scoffed. “Seriously? That’s your only comment after all that energy I poured into my excellent storytelling? My throat is parched and my heart is broken, Cale,”

“If your throat is parched, then drink some water.”

“And what about my broken heart?”

“Not my problem,” Cale replied, and Choi Jungsoo feigned heart in an incredibly overdramatic way.

“Hey Hong, Cale looks thirsty, right?” Sui Khan suddenly said. “Why don’t you give him some of your lemonade?”

Cale’s face seemed to immediately shrivel up as if Sui Khan had shoved a thousand lemons into his mouth just by saying those words. Meanwhile, Hong lit up with a glint of mischief. “You should have a sip Cale-nya! It’s so hot today,”

On chuckled. “Didn’t you say you were so tired after plucking those carrots? You should drink, okay? If you’re dehydrated you could get sick~”

“Mn… n-no thanks, really. That’s your glass.”

“Sharing is caring!”

“Open up, weak and dehydrated human!” 

Sui Khan and Choi Jungsoo were laughing across from him like the bastards they were. Cale swears he’ll make Choi Jungsoo toil the fields until his hands fall off and spoil the book Sui Khan was reading.

“Oh, hey, uncle! Come over here!” Choi Jungsoo called, waving Choi han over, who seemed to have just returned from an errand. His smile was brighter than the afternoon sun as he waved back, increasing his pace as he headed over.

The kids were drawing something on the table, and Cale could make out some crudely drawn jellyfish. Purple, green, and red. He stared at them for a long time.

“Cale,”

“Hm?”

“The sea is blue right?”

He paused. “Usually.”

“Then it’s not blue sometimes?”

“If you account for seafoam, and sometimes it can be a little greener,”

“Really?”

“Mhm.”

“We should go to the beach sometime, Cale-nya!” Hong suggested

“Yeah! I wanna catch a jellyfish and bring it home.” On added.

Choi Jungsoo scratched his head. “Uh, that…”

“Oooh, and let’s also go stargazing, weak human!”

“Stargazing?”

“Yup! Goldie said there’s a meteor shower tomorrow!” Raon said. “The kind Rosalyn also said she would lend me her telescope!”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Cale smiled. 

As the heat of the bright afternoon continued to shine down on the earth, he could hear Choi Jungsoo sing that silly tune he always sang, faintly.

Bon bon bon bon bon bon bon bon

“Bon bon bon…” Choi Jungsoo smiled. “Bon…”

The three jellyfish, the three stars, were all together again.