...And his faithful camera had taken a snap during every miracle that happened.
All except one.
Her.
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Twenty Polaroids. Two months of memories worth a million lifetimes. Two souls whose fates are intertwined, parts of a whole that is meant to s...
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We went stargazing.
She showed me the stars, glowing as she did so, and I finally found my constellation, her existence being the brightest amongst all.
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She asked me out. Not in any romantic sense, but to a midnight walk. And in my chest, I felt a feverish hammering, whether out of happiness or nervousness, I didn't know.
I think I should do justice to how this happened.
Dreams had begun to knock on my door since a few days. I seldom remembered any of the colourful swirls once I woke up, but this one is still crystal clear.
It was set in my home in Daegu. I aimlessly roamed the halls, and the funny thing was, when I took a step forward, it didn't look like I was moving at all. Focusing on my feet, I took another step. But before I could see what exactly was happening, I felt that familiar dip in my stomach.
When I opened my eyes, I found her next to me.
She stood in front of me, her head close to mine. “Taetae, wake up.”
My frown appeared as it always did when I was woken up. “Why?” I squinted at the clock, whose hands were joined at twelve. “Isn't it too late to do anything now?”
“I can't sleep.” She tugged on my hand. “I want to go out.”
“Where?”
She shrugged. “Doesn't matter. You'll come with me?”
I struggled to pull myself up, but I did. My eyes half closed, I searched for my shoes. When I felt the material under my fingers, I put it on, dragging the whole thing for a long time.
But she was happy. She clapped silently, having a mini celebration without disturbing the rest.
“Let's go!” She whispered, the excitement shouted out. And when she took my hand to lead me forward, I was shocked and relieved to see my feet going forward instead of remaining in the same place.
There was no moon in the sky. There was nothing to act as fairy lights in the woods. But as usual, the torch was brought along as a temporary replacement for the natural light.
In our night clothes, we walked without having a conversation, letting the wind speak to us. Some find it scary to be out in a forest - or anywhere - when it is dark, but I've never felt that. Darkness is something necessary to make sure we value sunlight. When it's giving us something to look forward to, who am I to complain?
I felt my breathing getting laboured as we found ourselves climbing up the slope. The wobbling light in front of us barely helped us to dodge the trees, but that was all we needed to carry on on our journey. By now, I had a good idea to where we were heading.
And I couldn't have been happier to come back to the top, this time being just the two of us.
It wasn't easy to focus on anything else other than her. She sprinted to the rock while still having a hold on my hand. Dimming the light, she let the ground sink into darkness while the stars blazed and shone above our heads.
