‘Ignoring the etiquette of studying and reading about stars. I wonder if it’s because her name is Estel?’

“Turn it back, teacher.”

“Well, stars are falsely embellishing themselves with sunlight, just like the fake you, Miss Stella. So, you must imitate and follow Miss Estel.”

“They only appear bright because they receive light from the sun. In reality, they don’t shine at all. In the end, they are like shadows that cannot exist without the sun.”

Since then, every time I looked at the stars, I felt the realization that I was fake. Despite pretending to shine, I was actually a fake, Estel.

“But still, do you find those stars beautiful?”

I looked at Yohan with fearful eyes. Yohan answered without hesitation.

“Yes, still.”

“Why?”

Yohan held my hand, which was close to his. I also strengthened my grip on his hand and asked.

“The light you see in those stars is fake. In reality, they don’t shine at all. But still, do you find those shining fakes beautiful?”

“Yeah.”

Yohan’s handsome face came closer.

“The comfort I felt when I looked at those stars is real.”

His voice, full of certainty, resonated in my heart. He lifted our clasped hands close to his face.

“Where that light actually comes from doesn’t matter to me at all.”

“…Then, what if.”

Without realizing it, my voice became moist.

“Even if the comfort you felt was all fake, can you still think of that comfort as real?”

At that moment, I realized why I hesitated to answer.

‘Is what Yohan loves really me?’

All this time, I had been doubting Yohan’s feelings.

Yohan treated me very well, yet he also made me very scared. Sometimes he used my anxious feelings like a joke. So, I always wanted to confirm his feelings.

‘Maybe I don’t really know if being loved is true.’

I had never truly been loved before. So, even if this wasn’t real and was fake, I had no way to distinguish.

“Estel.”

Yohan slowly pressed his lips to the bridge of my nose.

“What I want right now is you. Whether it’s fake or real doesn’t matter. You are the only one precious to me.”

I felt the walls of my tightly locked heart tremble. Tears started falling again.

“Am I really precious to you? Even if it could be fake?”

“Look with your own eyes.”

Yohan’s eyes turned towards the sky. As I looked at him, I saw the beautiful night sky. The stars in the dark night sky were shining beautifully.

“Those stars truly shine. Because I think so. The comfort that consoled me then remains unchanged. Regardless of where that light comes from, what was by my side was not the sun but the stars in the night sky.”
A single star illuminated the dark night sky with its tail, and gradually, more stars moved, embroidering the night sky.

Meteor shower.

The stars rotated as if drawing a picture in the sky, illuminating the surroundings. In this beautiful scene, only Yohan appeared in my eyes.

“Yohan.”

Perhaps I was arrogant.

I knew Yohan’s affection was fake, so I thought I would never be swayed. I thought I could protect myself because I knew that his heart was not directed towards me.

‘My heart is the only thing I have.’

But in this moment.

The entire sky is shining, his handsome face is captivating, his heartbeat is felt vividly as if held in my hand, and everything about him becomes special right now.

“Me too.”

Just as a butterfly cannot return to the moment before spreading its wings, just as a bloomed flower cannot return to the moment before blossoming.

I couldn’t go back to the time before realizing this love.

“I love you too.”

Yohan wordlessly kissed my lips.

In this joyful moment, strangely, tears flowed endlessly from my eyes.