The bar was empty, not a soul in sight, with glasses of assorted beverages messily left on the counter.
Dubian Che poured out the drinks one by one and began to wash each glass.
"Not sleeping?" Kiyono Lin's silhouette emerged from the top of the stairs.
"I'm not used to yachts; this is the first time I'm on a boat in my life." Dubian Che glanced at her and continued cleaning.
Kiyono Lin walked over and stood beside him.
As he finished washing a glass, she wiped it dry with a towel.
"You can't sleep because it's your first time sleeping outside?" Dubian Che asked.
No more words were exchanged between them; one washed, the other dried.
After they were all done, Kiyono Lin handed a towel to Dubian Che.
"Going back to sleep?" She watched Dubian Che drying his hands.
"No desire to sleep. You go ahead."
"I don't have any either."
Dubian Che's heart thumped at the sight of her snow-white, fragrant shoulder peeking out from her collar.
"Let's go outside," he said, setting down the towel, "up to the third level for some night breeze."
The two prepared a plate of fruit and grabbed some snacks like pistachios, then made their way to the open viewing deck.
The yacht moved at a walking pace through the night, the breeze neither too slow nor too hasty.
The moon was nowhere to be seen, only the sprawling stars and a hushed silence all around.
"It feels like we're the only two left in the whole world," Kiyono Lin said with a hint of relaxation in her voice.
"Like the human world has turned into zombies, and we're the last five survivors?" Dubian Che placed the fruit on the table.
"That wouldn't be so bad," Kiyono Lin added the snacks next to the fruit.
They sat on chairs side by side, facing southward, gazing up at the night sky.
The vast Milky Way stretched before them, stars twinkling like a crystal clear, bottomless river.
The sea and the galaxy, separated by a vertical expanse of 30 kilometers of sky and earth, in the midst of the boundless universe.
Though they seemed unconnected, the starlight from the galaxy sprinkled across the sea, and deep within the sea, reflections of the galaxy shimmered.
"Shooting star." Kiyono Lin watched the sky.
"I saw it," Dubian Che said.
One, two, three; a total of three shooting stars crossed the sky.
"Did you make a wish?" Kiyono Lin asked.
"Do you believe in such legends?"
"Not really, but making a wish has nothing to do with belief."
"That makes sense," Dubian Che nodded. "I didn't make a wish, but there is something I'd like to do."
"In the distant future, to reconcile you two; in the near future, to kiss your shoulder."
Kiyono Lin's hair was lightly blown by the wind, a few strands falling onto her lips.
She brushed away the mischievous strands and said, "Stop talking about such unrealistic things."
"What about touching your leg?"
"Aren't there any other things you've thought about?"
"That's not allowed either? Okay then, I'll settle for a hug. Can't reduce the price any further, it's already very low."
Kiyono Lin sighed softly.
"This afternoon, you could have kissed my shoulder, hugged me, or even kissed me, and I wouldn't have refused," she said, looking at the undulating waves.
"A beautiful moment," Dubian Che gazed up at the glittering galaxy. "If that had been our first meeting, we surely would have fallen in love at first sight."
"I'm not sure. I'm not someone who falls in love at first sight."
"Why aren't you sure then?"
"Because at that moment, I definitely liked you, yet I can't tell what I would have felt if it were our first meeting."
"It's okay, we would have fallen in love anyway."
By three o'clock, the night air began to chill, and Dubian Che stood up.
"What's wrong?" Dubian Che turned to look at her.
"Your dream..." Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on NoveIꜰire.net
"Not breaking up with Meiji and the others, you wouldn't want that, would you?"
"So you're trying to tell me to give up?"
"...Just for this moment," Kiyono Lin nervously placed her hands on her chest, "I can pretend they don't exist."
Dubian Che forgot to breathe, quietly watching her.
Flowers blooming, birds chirping, the breath of the tide, the light of the galaxy; at last, they scarcely touched... that unreachable dream.
Their blurred shadows merged into one.
On the rolling sea waves, their reflections shimmered against the Milky Way.