The guy turned back and looked at Yu Jin. He could not see the offender's face clearly as it was covered by a mask. However, he could apparently feel those malignant eyes staring at him.

"You have just molested my friend, isn't it?" Yu Jin rolled his eyes at the masked guy who was a head taller than him. His voice was a mix of anger and accusation.

"No, I didn't! Are you trying to slander me?" The suspicious guy retorted defensively.

"You were behind her when she said she was touched. If it wasn't you, then who was it?" Yu Jin's voice was stern as he grabbed the man's collar.

"Hey, don't slander me like this! I didn't do anything wrong," the man protested, swiftly removing Yu Jin's hand from his collar. As Yu Jin's grip loosened, he stumbled backward and fell, caught off balance.

"Yu Jin," Eun Chae exclaimed and rushed over to Yu Jin's place. "Are you alright?" She helped him up while scowling at the offender.

At that moment, another man intervened into the unfolding scene, seemingly coming out of nowhere, and took a step closer to the masked offender. He was wearing a hoodie with his hood covering his head so neither Yu Jin nor Eun Chae could see his face. 

"Stop lying! I saw you groping her boob. So give her a proper apology or I'll call the police," the newcomer strode in front of the offender's face and took out his phone from his pocket as if he was ready to report the incident.

"I didn't touch her boob, I just touched her b..." the molester spontaneously yelled at the newcomer and corrected the statement as a natural instinct, but he soon stopped when he realised a dead giveaway in his admission. He went totally speechless, looking at the good guy in exasperation and anger.

"So it's clear who is the wrong one here. Say sorry to her, now!" That guy stepped forward, closer to the molester.

"Hurry up! We'll let this slide if you say sorry," Yu Jin said, "Or you want me to leave this to the police?"

"Damn it!" The molester muttered in frustration. "I'm sorry", he offered a half-hearted apology before hastily making an escape in desperation to avoid any further humiliation.

After things had been settled and Eun Chae had pulled herself together, she approached the helpful acquaintance to say thanks to him.

"Thank you for..." Eun Chae stopped when she realised he was one of her friends, "Wait, it's you, Han Bin, why are you here?"

"I'm going to Yangpyeong of course."

"For stargazing right?" She queried with excitement. 

"Yeah, with Hae Rin. By the way, about that guy who is with you..." Han Bin said and glanced at Yu Jin with his hands on his hips, hinting some annoyance, "Is he the guy who broke my nose that football match?"

"Yes, it's him," Eun Chae confirmed with a wry laugh.

"What?" Yu Jin stared at the new guy in confusion, "Wait, you're...the penalty guy right?"

"Yeah, that's me!" He sighed in irritation, "You broke my nose that day and now you cannot even recognise me?"

"I apologise for that," Yu Jin admitted. "Is your nose better now? By the way, thanks for helping us. You handled the situation brilliantly," Yu Jin gave him a coy smile.

"Thanks, that's why I am going to study criminal psychology," he snickered. "And you don't need to thank me, I was helping Eun Chae, not you. My nose is also good now so don't worry."

"Nice, that's good to hear," Yu Jin gave him another friendly grin.

"Your nose has always been alright, stop saying that Yu Jin broke it, will you?" Eun Chae patted Han Bin's shoulder, "Yu Jin also injured his arms upon that tackle, you know?"

"Oh really, then I'm sorry," he looked at Yu Jin with an apologetic nod, "Your arms are OK now?"

"They're fine now, don't worry."

After all, it seemed that Han Bin was not really as mean as Yu Jin initially assumed. He was a good guy indeed. If there was any problem with his personality, it could only be that he was a little overly competitive sometimes.

"By the way, I'm sorry for messing up with you that day," Han Bin extended his hand, expecting a handshake with Yu Jin, "Can we be friends now?"

"Sure," Yu Jin's mouth curved up into a huge, friendly smile, "I'm also sorry for fouling you that day."

"OK OK, so you guys can be friends now, that's good! But Han Bin, where's Hae Rin? I thought she was with you," Eun Chae interjected the two guys.

"She could have been, but her father insisted on driving her to the observatory so I board the train alone."

"That means her family don't trust you," Eun Chae laughed and patted Han Bin's back, "Then I guess we won't be gazing at the stars together, Yu Jin and I will be at the camping site."

"Stop teasing me, I'm trying my best to impress them, you know?" Han Bin scowled at Eun Chae and grumbled. "But never mind, I won't mind weirdos like you," he pouted.

******

Yu Jin and Eun Chae arrived at the destination which was a camping site on a hill. As they predicted, there were not many people here as most of them preferred stargazing at the observatory to doing that at a camping site like this one. There were only a few people around with them, sitting together on the grass and looking at the luminous star-filled sky above. The sky was like a black velvet canvas, adorned by countless stars shining like radiant diamonds. They were all waiting to marvel at one of the most spectacular celestial phenomena, the meteor shower.

As soon as they sat down on the ground, Eun Chae took out a bottle of soju liquor and a pair of paper cups from her rucksack.

"It's good to be sitting, chilling, looking at the stars and drinking soju," she poured a bit of liquor into her cup and drank all of that in one gulp.

"You know that drinking is not good for your pancreas, right?" He scowled at her and took the bottle of soju out of her hands.

"Don't worry, if I just drink a little bit then it's not that bad," she swiftly retrieved the bottle and poured out another cup for Yu Jin, "Here's yours."

"Don't drink too much," he received the cup and peered at her with his face filled up by a mixture of care and disapproval.

"The sky is beautiful tonight, isn't it?" Eun Chae leaned on Yu Jin's shoulder.

"Yeah, it is, just like you," he looked at her and gently knocked his finger on her forehead.

"Come on, you're making me feel embarrassed," she screwed her face up at him and her chiding sounded like a chirping bird, "By the way what's your zodiac sign?"

"Why do you ask me?"

"Just tell me!" She said in mild frustration.

"I'm Pisces."

She nodded her head and then scanned through the night sky, seemingly looking for something. "Ah there it is, you see that cluster of stars over there, the one looking like a snake with a big head?" She pointed her finger at the sky.

"Yeah."

"That's the Pisces constellation, it represents your zodiac sign, you know that?"

"No, I'm not really interested in zodiac stuff before so this is the first time I see it, to be honest. What about yours, there should also be a constellation representing you, right?"

"There is, but I'm Scorpio so you cannot find mine here. We can only see it in the Southern hemisphere."

"Oh, I see."

"By the way, can you pass me the binoculars in my backpack? I need it to observe the perseid better later on."

"Wait a minute," Yu Jin opened her backpack and looked for the binoculars.

He did see it. However, he also saw things that he was not supposed to see, and he did not want to see them either. In her backpack were bunches of medications, syringes and devices that he had never seen before. It was apparent that Yu Jin was aware of Eun Chae's health condition and he knew that she could only live until now by the help of medical science. But he could never imagine what she was going through everyday, and how hard she was trying to fight her disease, to live a seemingly normal life. His mind went totally blank and he could do nothing but flatly fix his eyes into the stuff found in Eun Chae's backpack.

"Hey, are you OK?" Eun Chae nervously inquired when she saw her friend going completely numb. But for her question, it was hard to tell how long it would take for Yu Jin to be slapped back to reality.

"Ah...It...It's nothing," he quickly retrieved the binoculars and handed it to her, "Here you are."

"Thanks," she smiled and took the binoculars, "What time is it now?"

"Half past nine."

"It's still early. I'll go brush my teeth and wash my face first."

"Uhm, then hurry up, the forecast said the meteor shower would be at about ten right?"

"Yeah, I'll be right back. Remember to look after your stuff," she stood up and retrieved her backpack.

"Mm hmm," he mindlessly looked at her and nodded his head.

Eun Chae quickly finished all the things she needed to do, and it was Yu Jin's turn to go to the bathroom before the meteor shower occurred.

Yu Jin could not regain his composure yet. All the things he saw in Eun Chae's backpack were like a shadow that created an indescribable terror flooding in his head. He quickly ran into the restroom and hurled some cold water onto his face so that he could refresh his mind. Fortunately, it worked, at least for that moment.

Having finished all the hygiene stuff, he walked back to the camping site where Eun Chae was waiting and arrived there just in time when the meteor shower started.

"Hey hurry up, sit down here," she excitedly said and pulled his sleeves.

Yu Jin quickly settled down and both of them looked above. The meteors were shooting through the night sky like arrows sent down by the universe, leaving ephemeral trails of light in their wake. For a moment, the night sky became a grand stage for the meteors to showcase their spectacular dance.

"Hey Yu Jin, make a wish," she gleefully yelled at him and laughed.

"I already made a wish, you should too," he tousled her hair.

After a few minutes of enjoying the gala night of the shooting stars, Eun Chae suddenly patted Yu Jin's shoulder and asked him a question.

"What did you wish?"

"Me? Well...nothing much, I just wish that I can get into med school and become a good doctor."

"Hey, that's a waste of your chance," she gulped some soju and playfully scolded him.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll definitely be able to do that, you should have spent your wish on something more difficult to do, isn't it?"

"It's not that easy," he snorted. "But fine, if that's what you want, then I'll dream big..." He looked at the shooting stars again.

"Uh-huh," she tilted her head and stared at him, impatiently waiting for an answer.

"I want to be the best doctor in the world. I'll do something great and win a Nobel prize for medicine. Is it good enough?" He pinched her cheek. Actually, he had one more wish, a wish that he would never tell her. He wished that her pancreas would be healed. But, of course, he knew that the shooting stars could not create such a miracle. Looking at the sky above, he wondered how many more times he would be able to enjoy such a scene with Eun Chae.

"That's the spirit," Eun Chae chortled, "You wanna know what I wish?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I wish that..." Her lips were puckered for a few seconds, "I wish that one day, there will be no longer any people who have to die because of cancer like me."

Yu Jin went speechless again. He had absolutely no clue how to react when she said that. It was a great wish of her. Who would imagine a naive girl like her could make such a thought-provoking statement? This was probably her last chance to wish, and she spent it on wishing good things to all the unfortunate people like her. That really made Yu Jin have to reflect on himself. He had always thought about himself as a virtuous guy who was perfectly suitable to become a doctor. But this time, it seemed that he had met a girl who even had a kinder heart than his own.

"That's nice of you to say so," he looked at her with his affectionate eyes, "I'll make it true one day."

"It's gonna be hard," Eun Chae laughed, "But I trust you. You promise me?"

"I'm not that brave to promise you, but I'll try my best," a flame of determination started to glow in his eyes.

"By the way, Yu Jin, I..." Eun Chae's face suddenly blushed and Yu Jin could not surmise if it was because of the booze or of her being embarrassed by something. He impatiently looked at her, eager to listen to her question.

"I know this sounds weird but I..."

"You..." He peered at her and touched her hair.

"Before I die...I really want to know how it's like to kiss a guy, so is it OK if I...kiss you. I'll only do that once, I promise," she stared at Yu Jin with her sparkling eyes.

"You mean...on the cheeks?"

"No, on the lips, Yu Jin...can I?"

Yu Jin remained silent and looked at her for a few seconds. And then, not giving her any response or hint, he leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the lips. It was the first kiss for both of them.

Thank you very much for making it this far! If you enjoy reading my story and are excited to find out what is going to happen next, don't forget to click the star to vote for me as well as recommend my story to your friends. You votes really motivate me a lot^^