Radiant Short Story Collection

The view down here is much better though

The cold night air brushed my cheeks and stung, but inside the makeshift blanket fortress we’d built in the truck bed, there was only warmth. Pillows were piled high, and bare bulbs loosely strung to the metal frame cast a soft amber glow over us. Above our heads, the sky was a perfect canvas of deep, rich velvet blue, scattered with thousands of vividly sparkling stars.

"Alright, coming in! Your professional snack delivery service has arrived." Chan-yeon oppa called out as he carefully crawled into the fortress on both hands and knees. He was wearing a huge red oversized hoodie that covered even his hands, and he looked impossibly soft and squishy.

Oppa was holding two heavy mugs full of hot cocoa with both hands, so focused he even stuck his tongue out a little, trying not to spill a single drop on the fluffy white blanket. He almost made it. Almost—until the jutting corner of a pillow nudged oppa's ankle just as he was about to sit down.

"Wah-!" Chan-yeon oppa let out a short cry and jolted a little. He saved the blanket, but dark, warm chocolate sloshed over the rim of the mug and soaked straight into the thick fabric of his sleeve. He froze and stared down at his arm with a dumbfounded look, as if he’d been betrayed.

I couldn’t hold back my laughter. My loud laugh rang out through the quiet night sky. "Professional snack delivery service, I think you need to get a performance review." I teased as I reached into my tote bag and pulled out a pack of wet wipes.

I moved a little closer to oppa and gently tugged his arm toward me so I could dab at the damp fabric. Chan-yeon oppa didn’t seem to care about his ruined clothes at all. When he heard me laughing, he let out a low laugh of his own, helplessly.

When I looked up from oppa’s sleeve, I caught my breath for a moment. Oppa was looking down at me, his face lit with that familiar gentle eye-smile, eyes crinkled into bright arcs. His eyes turned into tiny crescents brimming with joy, and his shoulders shook every time he laughed at his own clumsiness. The calm amber lights caught in his tousled hair, making the moment feel like a scene from a movie.

"Hey, this is a tactical distraction operation," Chan-yeon oppa said in playful defense, lowering his voice into that sweet, warm tone of his. Even after I’d wiped his sleeve clean, he still didn’t pull his arm away. Instead, he turned his hand over and softly slipped his long fingers between mine. "Or maybe I just wanted you to hold my hand."

Oppa ignored the meteor shower streaking across the night sky overhead and rested his head against the pile of pillows. His thumb drew lazy circles over the back of my hand, and his wide grin slowly softened into a gentle, affectionate gaze that was for me alone.

"What’s the point of stars?" oppa whispered again, eyes crinkling. "The view down here is way better."

At oppa’s shameless line, I rolled my eyes teasingly, but the warmth spreading through my chest had nothing to do with the hot cocoa. "You’re so sly, oppa. So, so sly. But you’re missing the real meteor shower."

"Okay, okay. I’m looking." Oppa chuckled and finally turned his head toward the open sky.

Before turning, oppa gently pulled my hand and guided me to lean back with him against the mound of pillows. Then, with his other arm, he lifted the heavy, oversized goose down comforter and drew me into his embrace. Without a moment’s hesitation, I slipped into oppa’s arms. Chan-yeon oppa immediately wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me tight against his chest. His huge red hoodie was unbelievably plush, and he smelled faintly of cedarwood and sweet chocolate.

"There." While we both looked up at the sky, oppa murmured with his chin resting lightly on the top of my head. "Much better. Now I can focus on the real science."

"Science?" I asked, looking up at his profile.

"Of course." Oppa spoke with complete seriousness, but I could see the corners of his mouth twitching. "Look right over there. See those three stars lined up perfectly straight? That’s Orion’s Belt. But honestly, doesn’t it look a lot more like some cosmic hot dog someone sketched out in a hurry?"

I couldn’t help bursting out laughing. "A hot dog? Oppa, you’re insulting ancient astronomy right now."

"No, I’m serious!" Oppa argued, laughing silently beneath me so his shoulders shook. "And look at that giant cluster over on the left. People call it a bear, but I’m ninety percent sure that’s a giant floating spatula. The universe has to be just one huge cosmic kitchen."

On cue, a brilliant silver streak of light cut across the velvet-blue sky, slicing through the night and leaving a glittering trail behind it. It was so fast and dazzling that I gasped, and my fingers instinctively clenched the hem of oppa’s hoodie.

"Whoa, did you see that?" I whispered, completely captivated.

"I did. Hurry and make a wish," Chan-yeon oppa whispered softly against the top of my head.

I closed my eyes for a moment and listened to the steady, calm beat of oppa’s heart against my cheek. When I opened them again, oppa’s face was once more blooming with that beautiful, crinkled eye-smile, dimples digging deep into his cheeks.

"Did you wish for a better snack delivery guy?" oppa teased softly, lightly gripping my arm.

"Hmm." I smiled and buried my face a little deeper against oppa’s chest to hide my laughter. "Or maybe I just wished this night would never end."