The festival thinned out as the night deepened. Lanterns floated higher, fading into stars, and music from the main stage grew softer in the distance. Kaya walked slowly, clutching the small paper bag of snacks Ji-eun had insisted on buying for her.
Ji-eun and Min-jae were still laughing, wrapped up in their own world. Kaya trailed behind, invisible.
Until someone fell into step beside her.
Moon Seo-jun.
He didn't say anything at first, just matched her pace. His presence was calm, steady. After a while, he asked quietly, "Tired?"
"A little," Kaya admitted.
"Want to take a detour?"
Her eyes flicked toward Ji-eun and Min-jae. They were busy playing at another booth, oblivious. Kaya hesitated only a second before nodding.
They drifted away from the noise, down a path lined with trees where fairy lights glowed faintly overhead. The chatter of the crowd faded, replaced by the rustle of leaves and the crunch of gravel underfoot.
For the first time all night, Kaya could breathe.
Moon handed her a small bottled drink he'd been carrying. She blinked, surprised. "For me?"
"You looked like you needed it," he said simply.
Kaya held the cool bottle, her chest tightening for reasons she didn't understand. Nobody noticed those things about her. Not even Ji-eun when they had been close.
They walked in silence for a while, until Kaya spoke without thinking.
"Do you… ever feel like everyone else is moving forward, and you're just… stuck?"
Moon didn't answer right away. His gaze lifted toward the lanterns still floating in the distance. "All the time."
She turned to him, startled.
"But," he added softly, "sometimes being stuck just means you're waiting for the right song to begin."
Kaya stared at him, her heart thudding unevenly. There was something about the way he said it—like he wasn't talking about music at all.
The silence stretched, but it didn't feel heavy. It felt like a pause in a melody, the kind that made the next note linger longer in your heart.
When Ji-eun's voice eventually called out for her in the distance, Kaya felt something almost like disappointment.
She wasn't ready for the moment to end.
To be continued...