Boys of a Daytime Star

FOREVER: Part ∞ + 1

It was one of those nights...

Each one of the people around me was lifelessly silent, letting me hear the patters of the soul-stirring rain behind the train window, which were audibly refreshing. Nobody was watching me, but I thought someone could.

Notwithstanding the quiet passengers, the train started to make a turbulent noise while it was speeding through the city of Kawaakari which was the metropolis of blinding lights, peaceful people, life, death and everything among the finite eternity.

Putting my headphones on helped me to forget about the ominous taciturnity of the train. Nobody was watching me, but I felt someone listening.

Five distinct figures appeared outside the shadowy glass of the train. First thing I noticed about them was that they weren't human, not only because they had wings, horns and claws, it also seemed like they were from another existence. Their shadow was not obstructed by any other shadow of the night outside.

Suddenly, a notification ring stopped me from dreaming about them. Once I checked my phone, my screen brightness almost blinded me as it was dark inside the train.

After turning the brightness down, a message from our group-chat called "Forever Together" appeared on the screen. I couldn't even remember who came up with that name.

I bent my head down, leaning to the window of the train and reading the message which was sent from my Eurasian friend Paikek [파이켁]:

"Did you hear about the ghost in the Komorebi cafe?" I indistinctively sighed while reading it.

As I could tell from his profile picture, Paikek was a black-haired, smiley boy with a small nose and pale face.

"A ghost? Haha!" a guy called Bomyu [봄유] replied the message who happened to be standing next to me, holding the hanging strap suspended from the subway ceiling.

Bomyu had dark-brown hair, he was wearing a black denim jacket and a black-and-white striped sweater. He seemed tired because his head was buried deep down to his phone. Probably he had a lot of thoughts going on in his mind.

"Bomyu, aren't you scared?" Paikek typed.

"No, what's scary? Let's go at night to see if there is a real ghost. Hahahaha"

"I keep having weird dreams. Maybe because I am so tired." I messaged instantly without any hesitation.

Paikek looked at his phone, reading my message with a puzzled expression on his brown eyes. The guy who was wearing a white shirt and a small black bag was him, and surprisingly he was right behind me.

Eventually, I realised that my last text was entirely out of context, and something had to be done immediately. Everything in front of my eyes went blurry, and my fingers were shaking tremendously while sending: "Sorry, It was nothing."

After sending the message, I glanced at Bomyu, who was still looking at his phone with the same empty expression. Nothing was impressive on his phone, just our conversation, but the mattering thing was somewhere deep in his mind.

On the other hand, another guy from the group-chat; Seanyung [선양] was sitting on the left side of me who was a short dark-brown haired guy. He was the smallest and the smartest in the group as he never sent a single message yet. However, I took a glimpse of Seanyung several times while he was deleting something he wrote rather than sending it. He must have had a lot to say.

All of a sudden, Paikek sighed and narrowed his eyes as he took off his bag and hugged it while sitting on an empty seat which was blue. First, he strangely looked out the window covered with raindrops, and then, he continuously touched the screen of his phone by his fingertips.

When he stopped typing, I received an instant notification;

"Why don't we get off the train at the next stop." a message from Paikek appeared on the Forever Together group chat.

Spontaneously, Paikek got up slowly, putting his black bag around his right arm. His narrowed eyes searched for something for a moment. While everyone on the train was standing still, Paikek stepped toward the doors painted sky blue. As soon as Bomyu saw him, he put his phone into his pocket and followed Paikek hurriedly. Eventually, Seanyung and I pursued them towards the train's double-sided doors.

Four of us gazed upon the green dots in the screen on the top of the window, which had a blurry view of the blue and red city lights. While the excitement in Paikek's eyes turned into concern, Bomyu's eyes were locked onto the screen, waiting for the train to stop.

As we got closer to the next stop, more green dots appeared on the screen. A few seconds later, the number of green dots became eight, when the train stopped, and the gates opened, letting a freezing wind inside the train which trembled my bones.

Lights of the city of Kawaakari surrounded us when we got off the train. It was known as the city of tall towers and skyscrapers where only the lone souls could survive. Regarding its rail station, tens of hundreds of people were in a rush, and not a single soul was talking.

It seemed like a new adventure for four of us even though it was the city we were born in and raised.

After walking for hours in magnificent heavy rain, we reached our apartment on the less crowded side of the city. The pathway in front of our brick roofed apartment was covered with autumn leaves. The elegant breeze wasn't strong enough to fly them away.

My clothes were soaking wet, but it didn't stop me from watching each one of the precious stars in the night sky. I always loved them because when I was a kid, I used to believe that people become stars when they die.

There were four stars in a clear night sky of the city of Kawaakari. However, it was raining so I could only see one of them. When I was a kid, there were hundreds of them filling in the darkness of the night.

"I am so excited to see what our new apartment looks like." Seanyung beamed.

"Come on, let's go in!" Paikek smiled and opened the front door.

The room was filled with yellow furniture and colourful flowers in pink flower pots. Five beds were located on the right side of the living room which had a balcony covered in vines.

"This is amazing!" Bomyu spoke in a soft tone with a clear sense of happiness. He almost laughed as his chuckle was almost hearable.

Paikek noticed the old bookshelf on the wall." We have a lot of magic books here!" his eyes glimmered.

"Magic is sometimes boring, but I want to see your tricks," I chuckled, patting Paikek's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Karu [카루]! I never disappoint." Paikek silently laughed as he jumped into his yellow bed. He almost buried himself into the fluffy bedsheets.

We all wore our pyjamas and got ready to sleep. Each of us had our own bed, leaving one bed unused. Finally, I and the other three boys, we were together, in the same room, making me feel the comfort and peace in that indescribable atmosphere.

I shut my eyes while cuddling my new cloudy-blue blankets, but a notification ring caused my eyes to open. I sighed deeply and checked my phone, seeing a message from Paikek which was saying "Goodnight :)" with a bunch of cute emojis.

It made me smile with true happiness after seeing the other boys reply "Goodnight guys!" too.

The strangest thing on this land with only four stars in its night sky was that I couldn't remember when or why I met with these three boys. All I actually knew was that we were best friends.

FOREVER.

Chapter Notes: Who is your favourite? Karu (main character), Paikek, Bomyu, or Seanyung?