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01
It was a seemingly peaceful night. He looked up at the sky, where stars drifted across the heavens. In an instant, the stars vanished, and he found himself plunged into endless darkness.
He did not know how long had passed.
A soft light emanated from all around him.
He felt incredibly comfortable, like a baby in the womb. He gradually came to his senses. Unconsciously, he whispered that name. The name he had called out every day in the past.
It was her.
But since that cold winter, his calls had gone unanswered forever.
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He sat by the hospital bed. He sat there for a long time, a very long time.
He would have to live with this grief for the rest of his life.
Every time he opened the photo album, he saw the memories of the past.
He recalled their first meeting, which was during a Christmas event in high school. They had met because of a misdelivered invitation. At the time, she was very shy and was reluctant to speak to others. His bold approach had piqued her interest in him. After all, no one had ever fallen down after drinking two beers, not even students. She was very happy that day.
After that, the two became friends. They shared common interests, common pursuits, and common dreams. They spent every day talking and comforting each other, and the girl became more lively and cheerful.
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One spring after high school graduation, the two made a promise to go to Mount Fuji to see the cherry blossoms. It was her favourite flower.
However, he did not come. The passing of his mother made him forget the promise. One evening, she went to his house to visit him.
The girl didn't blame him at all and kept comforting him. He threw himself into her arms and cried loudly. The girl held him like that. They spent a silent night together.
Two days later, the boy went to the girl's house. The girl seemed to have been waiting for a long time.
He stammered out those words on the porch:
“I like you. Will you go out with me…”
She suddenly turned and ran away. The boy froze for a moment, then hurried after her: “Don’t run away! Please at least give me an answer!”
The girl ran while laughing. Finally, the two of them ran to an oak tree. A gentle breeze blew, and the girl smiled at the boy: ‘You can't outrun me... ha ha...’ She suddenly hugged him: ‘I'll go out with you.’ They hugged for a long time and laughed for a long time.
That night was exceptionally clear.
In the courtyard, she lay in the boy's arms, gazing at the starry sky and the Milky Way.
‘I want to go there someday.’
‘The Milky Way? I'll go with you. Definitely.’
A shooting star streaked across the sky, witnessing their promise.
From then on, every night, the two would sit in the backyard, gazing at the stars, recalling that naive promise, yet also waiting for the next shooting star to fall.
They waited for 30 years.
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02
That night, there were no stars. His mood was inexplicably heavy. As he left the office and looked up at the sky, he saw darkness. But a shooting star fell.
He seemed to think of something and rushed home, only to find his wife lying unconscious on the ground.
It was cancer.
The cold wind pierced his bones, as if trying to tear him apart.
Terminal.
He stared blankly at his unconscious beloved, his mind a blank.
‘Darling?’
No matter how many times he called her name, she would never wake up again.
He knew.
He knew.
He stayed by his wife's side and fell into a deep sleep. He did not see the tear that slid down her face.
‘On a night when no stars are visible, a shooting star falling means someone is about to pass away...’
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03
Since her departure, he had changed. He had become gloomy and reclusive.
Every night, he went to his wife's grave and looked up at the sky.
‘I'm sorry I didn't take you to see the cherry blossoms, I'm sorry I didn't take you to the Milky Way... I'm so sorry... I miss you so much...’
As if afflicted by some kind of mental illness, one day he suddenly fell ill.
He had no family to accompany him, so he went alone to see the stars one last time.
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He looked up at the sky, where stars drifted across the heavens. In an instant, the stars vanished, and he was engulfed in endless darkness.
He didn't know how long it had been.
He couldn't open his eyes.
But he felt a gentle light emanating from all around him.
He felt incredibly comfortable, like a baby in the womb. He gradually came to his senses. Unconsciously, he whispered that name. The name he used to call every day.
It was her.
To his surprise, he received a response.
He opened his eyes and found himself lying in a white corridor. There were no lights, but a soft, warm light surrounded him. At the end of the corridor stood a girl who looked to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. She was smiling at him.
She smiled and said, ‘You're here?’
At that moment, the corridor suddenly lengthened, becoming endless. The windows on both sides, which had been tightly closed, slowly opened.
The girl started running.
‘Wait for me! Don't run anymore!’ The boy chased after her.
The warm breeze from outside blew into the corridor.
The girl didn't stop, but she looked back once.
The boy looked out the window and saw Mount Fuji, with cherry blossoms in full bloom at its base.
The girl continued running ahead and said, ‘Do you remember when you said you would take me to see the cherry blossoms, but we never got to go?’
The boy cried, ‘I'm sorry! Please don't run anymore, okay? Can you stop and stay with me for a while? Please...’
The girl stopped, turned around, and smiled, ‘You still can't outrun me.’
The boy smiled too. He glanced out the window and saw an oak tree.
The girl said, ‘This is where we used to be together.’
The boy trembled and said, ‘Can you... hug me one more time... like you used to...’
The girl didn't speak; she simply embraced him.
“One last time.”
A strange noise disrupted the boy’s thoughts.
The corridor… was collapsing.
The girl let go of him, crying and trembling: “Seek me among the countless stars.”
A flash of bright light passed, and the boy felt weightless. When he opened his eyes again, he saw it.
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04
He found himself in an interstellar space. Bright stars and magnificent nebulae filled the surroundings. He kept retreating, retreating, until he saw the entire galaxy, galaxy clusters, the entire universe. He truly saw it—an infinite three-dimensional fractal structure, constantly changing. His body had been destroyed, and he had truly entered eternity. He saw that every small fractal was a universe. His soul began an eternal journey of wandering. He saw various different universes, different dimensions, some with life, some without. He just watched. Wandering aimlessly in this meaningless eternity.
He became cold and emotionless.
After countless years, tens of thousands of years, hundreds of millions of years, he grew tired. He grew weary of the simple, supreme act of observation. He longed to pursue that primal, unique human sensation. The other human wandering souls he encountered did not share this desire. He did not know what drove him to this thought.
As he wandered to a planet in a certain universe, he inadvertently saw two tombstones.
Some memories deep within his soul were awakened.
When his physical body was still alive, he had fallen in love with a girl.
He was surprised that someone had buried them together.
After so long, he felt an emotional stir for the first time. He wondered if the girl's soul still remembered him...
He began his search.
Yes, within the infinite eternal spaces, to find the lover he had lost.
Was this the power of love? Transcending time, space, and dimensions. He believed that the girl's soul was also searching for him.
He began a new journey.
He screened all possible three-dimensional universes, and even saw the girl and himself alive on Earth in some universes, but he knew that they were not them.
Countless days and nights passed again.
This time, he arrived at a universe.
He instinctively went to a place. It was a very beautiful galaxy.
At that moment, he saw the soul of a girl.
Her soul did not notice him.
He hesitated, afraid he had made a mistake or forgotten something.
But driven by some instinct, a name slipped out of his mouth.
And he was certain that the girl had also spoken a name at the same time.
They were calling out to each other.
The girl turned around, already weeping uncontrollably.
The boy finally shed tears.
“You said you’d come with me to see the Milky Way, right?”
The boy stood frozen in place, then burst into tears.
“Yes… I remember…”
“I’ve been waiting for you.” The girl smiled.
At that moment, the boy’s soul began to tremble, and the emotions he had kept locked away were finally released.
“Thank you… for always remembering me.”
“We should thank each other!” the girl smiled. “You’ve been looking for me for so long too, haven’t you?”
“Yes…”
He cried like a child.
“I promised, and you promised, so I believed you. Because… I love you.”
“Really?” the girl asked with a smile.
“Really…” the boy said.
“Then catch up to me first!”
The girl ran off laughing, and the boy chased after her.
The two reunited souls ran freely across the galaxy, laughing.
The boy easily caught up with the girl.
“Ah ha! After all this time, you’ve finally caught up with me!”
Before the boy could speak, the girl embraced him.
At that moment, the two dim souls suddenly emitted a dazzling light.
The two embraced tightly in the galaxy, enveloped in the warm, dazzling light.
The reunion after billions of years unleashed an astonishing energy from their love. The stardust particles around them began to collapse, compress, and fuse. Finally, with a loud explosion, two new stars were born.
Due to gravity, the two stars began to orbit around each other, appearing as if they were chasing one another.
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THEND
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