stardust | park seonghwa ✓

25

"Ji-Ji, do you know who your star mate is?" I ask her, a little more softly this time. I can feel myself internally grimace at the nickname I used to call her, but when her emotions shift, I tell myself to just let it go.

I'm half expecting her to say 'no'. Which would make a lot of sense - the party was a place where a lot of people gather. Considering the fact that it's a crowded space where a lot of people had to bump, squish and weave themselves in and out of the sea of bodies, it would be no surprise if her star mate had only brushed her hand by accident.

If that had happened, her chances of finding her star mate were lower than the chances I know myself have. Who knows how many people she's squished herself through that night? It could be ten, twenty, thirty... and any of them could've been her celestial partner.

That seems logical enough for a reason why she's so pressed about this.

Because once you've learned you've gotten your mark, there's a natural urge, almost like an instinct, to find your matching star.

At least, that's what mum told me. (Sometimes it makes me wonder if Yeosang's genuinely really given up on his own star mate).

However, what Yeji reveals to me isn't what I expected. A look of disbelief decorates my facial features.

"Yeah," the tone in her voice tells me she's sure of it. "Yeah, I do."

"Then why are you here?"

Of course, I feel some type of jealousy stirring up inside me. I'm not sure whether it's the fact that Yeji knows who her partner is or that she has one and that she's found them. Although I'm sure it's the former.

Yeji lets out an exasperated sigh. "Because!"

"Because I know my star mate doesn't like me."

"What do you mean?" I'm confused now.

Another sharp inhale is taken by her before she gazes right in my eyes. "It's Wooyoung."

I furrow my eyebrows.

"Wooyoung?"

"Wooyoung," she repeats after me, sounding as if trying to get the word into my head. "He's my star partner."

"Wooyoung!"

"Shh!" Yeji lunges forward in her seat, alarmed, as she slaps her palm over my mouth, "not too loud! San is right outside."

I nod. The girl relaxes back into her seat and crosses her arms, looking at everywhere but me. She clicks her tongue.

When I try to speak, Yeji quickly brings up a hand to stop me. "Before you say anything," she interrupts, "yes, Wooyoung is my star mate and I met him at the party."

"And it's annoying 'cause I've never met him until that night but he's already playing in my head so much," she confesses, "we don't even know each other very well. I don't think we know each other at all. He only knows my name and that's it. I got attached way too quickly, it's ridiculous!"

"And Wooyoung, he hates me," Yeji quite visibly deflates, exhaling in defeat, "and I just - I don't know. It hurts."

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you," I try to assure her.

My hands hover around the air awkwardly as I don't exactly know where to place them, trying to still keep my distance from her but she just looks genuinely troubled. So I place one on her knee, rubbing it soothingly.

Yeji lifts her head to send me a slightly pained smile.

"Talk to him," I tell her, "how could he dislike you for no reason?"