You didn't respond. You were lost in the constellations of his eyes. They were literal night skies where the constellations shifted as his gaze moved over your body.

It was then you recognized him. The Piper's victim from a few years before. Star boy.

xXx

Namjoon was obsessed with the stars. He carried around maps of the night sky he'd made himself. The papers often dropping in the street, water and mud staining them. He normally would just pick them up, wipe off the contaminate the best he could and redraw the intricate series of lines and dots. He stopped caring a long time ago.

You remember the summer you turned fourteen you'd been interested in the stars. Your grandmother often told you the stories of all the lovers and warriors immortalized in the sky forever. Her ultimate dream, she told you not long before she died, that when it was her time, she too wanted to become part of the stars. You liked to think she did.

xXx

You followed Namjoon one night, wondering where he went with his armload of maps. The boy was often in his own thoughts, so it was easy to follow him without being spotted.

Eventually, Namjoon stopped and laid down on flat in his back, the maps spread out next to him. He seemed too enchanted by the stars to notice your approach.

"Namjoon?"

The boy jumped nearly ripping the maps next to him in the process. He looked at you a bit oddly, curious as to why you'd followed him.

"What you doing out here?" he asked.

He was a few years older than you. You knew the reasons his mind most likely jumping to; that you liked him, that you'd been dared to follow him out to a meadow in the middle of the night.

"My-my grandmother died recently. She-uh-liked stars. She said she wanted to become them when she died. I was wondering if-uh- you could help me find her."

"Let's see if there's anything new in the sky."

He pulled up the maps and compared them to the night sky. His eyes scanned the sky quickly, the stars reflecting off his own dark eyes. Making it look as if the night sky were in his eyes.

"There!" he said, pointing to a specific point in the sky. "Those stars had no organization a few nights ago. That must be her."

The stars were arranged into the shape an iris--her favorite flower--and you knew as soon as you gazed at the stars that it was her.

Namjoon scribbled the new arrangement onto his map, his face contorted carefully as he tried to place each star correctly. He paused when he finished before handing the pencil to you.

"What was her name?"

You smiled and took the pencil from him. You wrote your grandmother's name down on the line he'd indicated and felt your eyes tear slightly as you handed the pencil back to him.

xXx

You continued to go stargazing with Namjoon many nights. You lay on your backs and watched as the stars changed over time. Some you had explanations for, others were mysteries. On quieter nights where the stars were content he would tell you the stories of the constellations. Your favorite was always The Two Lovers and even after you'd heard the story, he'd tell the story again whenever you felt upset.

The Two Lovers

There once were two lovers who could never be together. Star-crossed lovers. Knowing there was no way to be together on Earth, the two--who had a love for the stars--planned to be together again in the stars. But soon, both of the lovers were married to different people. One of the lover's spouses worried they would be unfaithful, moved them to a different village miles away.

Yet, the two lovers found a way to communicate through the stars. The empty places in the sky where there were no stars or where the stars were scattered, the lovers began to thrust themselves into. People grew suspicious at their injuries, but before they could stop them, the two lovers eventually tossed the rest of themselves into the sky.

There was no reason to wait for death. The two lovers could start a new life in the sky, where they didn't have to give up their lives, but rather re-create them.

When Namjoon was taken by the Piper, you kept an eye on the stars. You continued his maps and tried your best to keep record of the new entries in the sky. You thought maybe you might see him pop up one day, but you never did.

xXx

"Namjoon," you said.

The Piper straightened at that. His eyes continued to stare, the constellations shifting faster and faster. You knew your old friend was in there somewhere.

"Is this what happens when you get taken by the Piper? You become the Piper?"

The Piper nodded his head.

"Kind of," he said. "The Piper can only take the forms of its victims."

xXx

"Aren't you supposed to kill me?" you asked.

You'd been walking for an hour now, past the meadow and into yet another dark forest. Each forest felt different though, the trees slowly getting closer and closer together.

"Yes," the Piper answered.

"Are you going to?"

"I don't know."

It was silent the rest of the day. The Piper occasionally glancing at you. Your heart ached knowing your friend was gone, or at least altered. You never quite knew why the Piper took Namjoon, because to you he was a perfect quiet strength.

The sun began to set and the Piper started to set up camp. You watched as he picked a spot that happened to be underneath a break in the trees allowing the two of you to lie on your backs like old times.

"Look," you said. "There's my grandmother. The iris."

The Piper followed the direction you finger pointed and smiled as he took in the familiar arrangement.

"I nearly forgot about her," he said.

You smiled, feeling as if your friend had returned. You felt his face turn towards you, his eyes boring through you again. You turned to face him, seeing the iris in his eyes.

"I'm not going to kill you," he said. "We'll be like the Two Lovers. We won't have to give up our lives, we'll re-create them. We'll defeat this cycle. We'll defeat Abraxas."

A small dull light began to emit from the Piper, like the sun peeking through the horizon. Soon, his form was different. Dark hair and an ethereal face, you knew the night was over.