The moon of Jepka hung high above the clouds — pale, luminous, and unnaturally close. Its silver glow washed over the small wooden cottage where the five sisters lived, filling every room with soft light.
Inside, silence lingered.
The boys slept in the guest room, their breathing steady but restless. Ardelle had gone to check on them one last time before retreating to her chamber. Lyra muttered something about "not babysitting lost humans" before collapsing onto her bed. Eira was quietly humming near the window, and Naya, as always, was whispering a prayer to the spirits of the earth.
But Saehwa… couldn't sleep.
She sat on the edge of her bed, arms folded, staring at the faint frost forming on her fingertips. The room was still — only the faint hum of the night wind filled the air.
"Humans from another world…"
She whispered the words like they were unreal. "How is that even possible?"
She closed her eyes, trying to silence her thoughts.
Helping them meant going against her instincts — against the walls she had built to stay safe. They weren't her problem. They weren't her people.
And yet…
Something about those boys — wouldn't leave her mind.
Unable to shake it off, she rose and walked down the narrow staircase. The cottage was dim, but moonlight poured through the open window like liquid silver. Outside, the grass shimmered with dew.
That's when she saw him — Jimin
Jimin was sitting on the grass just outside the window, arms wrapped around his knees, looking up at the moon as though trying to find answers in it. The soft wind brushed through his dark hair.
Saehwa hesitated at the doorway.
Something about the quiet of that moment pulled her closer.
She stepped outside, her bare feet brushing the cold earth.
When Jimin turned, startled, she looked away — pretending she hadn't meant to come.
"You should be resting," she said softly. "Your wounds aren't healed."
Jimin gave a small, awkward smile.
"Couldn't sleep," he admitted. "The stars here… they look so close. I keep thinking maybe if I stare long enough, I'll see Earth."
Saehwa stayed standing for a moment before lowering herself onto the grass beside him — though she left a careful distance between them.
"Earth," she repeated, tasting the word. "That's your world?"
He nodded, eyes still on the sky.
"Yeah. It's… nothing like this. No floating lights, no magic. Just noise, traffic, buildings."
He gave a faint laugh. "And yet, I miss it more than I ever thought I would."
Saehwa watched him quietly. The sincerity in his voice was disarming.
"You want to go back," she said flatly.
"Of course," he whispered. "My mom's probably losing her mind by now. She texts me every morning to check if I've eaten. I never thought I'd miss that."
There was silence. Only the wind and the faint rustle of the grass between them.
Saehwa lowered her gaze. "Family…" The word came out colder than she intended. "Must be nice."
Jimin looked at her. "You don't have one?"
She shook her head slowly. "No one remembers me. And I've learned not to remember them either. Ardelle found me in the fields when i was just few days old."
For a while, neither spoke.
Then Jimin's voice broke the stillness again — gentle, uncertain.
"You know… maybe we're both kind of lost stars. Just… from different skies."
Something in her chest tightened.
It wasn't pity. It wasn't warmth.
It was something deeper — a faint crack in the walls she'd built around herself.
She turned her eyes back to the moon. "You talk too much," she said quietly. But there was no sharpness in her tone now — only a strange softness.
Jimin smiled faintly. "You listened, didn't you?"
Saehwa didn't answer. But she stayed.
The two of them sat in silence, watching the moon glide slowly across the sky — two lost souls in a world that didn't belong to either of them.
And somewhere between the soft wind and the quiet heartbeat of Jepka's night, Saehwa made her decision.
"Tomorrow," she murmured finally, her breath fogging in the cold air,
"I'll go to the Old Castle Library."
Jimin turned to her, confused. "What for?"
She stood up, brushing the frost from her dress.
"To find a way to send you back to your world."
And before he could thank her, she was gone — walking back toward the cottage, her silver hair trailing like mist under the moonlight.
The grass where she'd sat shimmered faintly with frost — as if the night itself had heard her promise.