“What happened to you, Mom? Why aren't you answering me? Please… open your eyes, Mom. Please!”
Yuseong cried beside her mother's bed, holding her cold hand tightly.
She cried for hours, but her mother never opened her eyes again.
Yuseong was only fifteen years old.
She had no father. He had died when she was born, and her mother had been the only family she had ever known. Her mother was her home, her comfort, and her entire world.
And now, she was gone.
After the funeral, Yuseong was sent from one relative's house to another. No one wanted to keep her for long. She was treated like a burden.
One evening, an angry relative shouted at her.
“Your father died when you were born, and now your mother is dead too. What do you even have left? Why are you still here?”
Yuseong lowered her head, trying not to cry.
That night, she was thrown out of the house with nowhere to go.
She walked until her feet hurt and finally sat on an old bench beside the street. The night was freezing, and she hugged herself tightly.
She looked up at the sky.
“Mom…” she whispered through her tears. “Why did you go so far away?”
Her voice trembled.
“Please… if you can hear me, take me with you too.”
For a long time, she stared at the stars.
Then she saw one shooting across the sky.
A shooting star.
People always said that if you made a wish when you saw one, your wish would come true.
Yuseong closed her eyes.
For a moment, she thought about making a wish.
But then she shook her head.
“I don't want to wish for anything.”
Her voice broke.
“Because wishes never come true.”
She wiped her tears, but more kept falling.
“Never.”
She eventually fell asleep on the bench.
The next morning, an elderly woman walking down the street noticed her.
The woman stopped when she saw Yuseong curled up on the cold bench.
“Child?”
Yuseong slowly opened her eyes.
“What are you doing outside in this cold? Where are your parents? Don't you have a home?”
Yuseong looked down.
“I don't have a home.”
The old woman stared at her for a moment.
Then she gently asked, “What's your name?”
“Yuseong.”
“What a pretty name.”
The woman smiled.
“Would you like to come home with me?”
Yuseong looked at her with disbelief.
Then she slowly nodded.
As they walked together, the woman asked, “So, what do you like to eat? I'll make something when we get home.”
For the first time in a long time, Yuseong looked up with bright eyes.
“Anything is fine.”
“Then I'll decide.”
And just like that, Yuseong found a new home.
Years passed.
The old woman never treated Yuseong like a burden. She gave her a warm place to sleep, food to eat, and, most importantly, someone who cared about her.
Yuseong studied hard.
She wanted to build a life her mother would have been proud of.
Eventually, she received a scholarship and entered university.
At twenty years old, Yuseong was living in a university dormitory.
She was independent, hardworking, and kind.
But there was one thing she had never forgotten.
That shooting star.
She had stopped making wishes for herself.
She didn't believe she deserved them.
One afternoon, Yuseong was walking back toward her dorm when she noticed a little girl sitting beside the road and crying.
Yuseong immediately walked over and crouched beside her.
“Why are you crying? Did you get lost?”
The little girl shook her head.
“My puppy is missing.”
“Your puppy?”
“He was walking with me, but suddenly he disappeared.”
The little girl's eyes filled with tears again.
Yuseong smiled gently.
“Hey, don't worry. He'll come back.”
“How do you know?”
Yuseong thought for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“I'll make a wish for you. Your puppy will come back.”
The little girl's eyes widened.
“Are you a fairy?”
Yuseong laughed.
“Yes. I'm a fairy.”
The little girl smiled.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Yuseong stood up and waved.
“I have to go now. But remember, your wish will come true.”
She walked away.
After going a little distance, something made her turn around.
The little girl's puppy was running toward her.
The girl jumped up happily and hugged him.
“Look! He's back!”
Her mother came running toward her.
“I told you not to wander away with the puppy!”
The little girl pointed toward Yuseong.
“Mom! She's a fairy!”
Her mother looked in the direction she was pointing.
But Yuseong was already gone.
The mother smiled.
“She must have gone back to heaven.”
“What are you talking about, Mom?”
“Come on. Let's go home.”
Meanwhile, Yuseong returned to her dorm.
As soon as she opened the door, her best friend, So-hee, jumped up and hugged her.
“Yuseong! I did it!”
Yuseong laughed.
“What happened?”
“I passed my interview! I got the job!”
“See? Didn't I tell you that you would get selected?”
Yuseong smiled proudly.
“You worked so hard. You deserved it.”
So-hee grabbed her hand.
“Come on! We're going out for dinner. It's on me today.”
“Okay!”
As they walked to the restaurant, Yuseong smiled to herself.
It was strange.
Her wishes never came true for herself.
But somehow, whenever she wished for someone else, something wonderful happened.
She didn't know why.
Maybe it was just luck.
Maybe it was coincidence.
Or maybe there really was something magical about wishes.
She just knew one thing.
She had never wished for anything for herself.
Because she believed she had nothing left to wish for.
At the restaurant, So-hee ordered dinner while Yuseong looked around.
Then So-hee suddenly became quiet.
“Hey…”
Yuseong looked at her.
“What?”
“Look.”
So-hee pointed toward the entrance.
A young man had just walked into the restaurant with his friends.
Yuseong's expression changed.
“Minhyun…”
Minhyun had been Yuseong's first love.
They had attended the same school years ago, but after graduation, he had gone abroad for his studies.
She hadn't seen him since.
Her heart still remembered him.
But there was something So-hee didn't know.
Yuseong had never told Minhyun how she felt.
She had always believed he liked So-hee.
She thought he had never even noticed her.
Yuseong lowered her eyes.
“I don't feel like eating anymore.”
“What? Why?”
“Let's go.”
So-hee immediately understood.
“It's because of Minhyun, isn't it?”
“It's nothing.”
“Wait here. I'll talk to him.”
“No!”
Yuseong quickly grabbed her hand.
“What will he think?”
So-hee sighed.
“Fine. But are you okay?”
“I'm fine.”
They left the restaurant.
Outside, So-hee looked at her worriedly.
“Do you want me to stay?”
“No. You can take a cab. I want to walk for a while.”
“Yuseong…”
“I'm okay. Really.”
So-hee finally nodded.
“Call me when you get back.”
“I will.”
Yuseong walked toward a quiet park.
She sat on a bench and looked up at the night sky.
There were only a few stars.
Her eyes filled with tears.
She whispered,
“I wish…”
She stopped.
She had almost forgotten how to wish for herself.
Then she smiled sadly.
“I wish Minhyun would always be happy with the person he loves.”
She closed her eyes.
“I hope he never loses the person he loves.”
A tear slipped down her cheek.
She quickly wiped it away.
Then she heard footsteps.
Someone stopped in front of her.
Yuseong looked up.
Her heart froze.
It was Minhyun.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
He looked at her carefully.
“Why are you crying?”
“I'm not.”
She turned her face away.
Minhyun smiled softly.
“You've always been a terrible liar.”
Yuseong didn't answer.
Minhyun slowly sat beside her.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then he said,
“You know what?”
“What?”
“I've missed you.”
Yuseong turned toward him in shock.
“What?”
“I've missed you a lot.”
She stared at him.
“But… you just came back.”
“I know.”
He smiled.
“But I thought about you many times while I was away.”
Yuseong's heart began beating faster.
“Why?”
Minhyun looked at her.
“Because I love you.”
Yuseong stopped breathing for a moment.
“What?”
“I said I love you.”
She stared at him as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
“But… So-hee?”
Minhyun laughed softly.
“What about So-hee?”
“You love her.”
“No, I don't.”
“But I thought…”
“She has always been my friend.”
He looked directly into Yuseong's eyes.
“You were the person I loved.”
Yuseong's eyes filled with tears.
“Since when?”
“Since high school.”
He smiled.
“I wanted to tell you so many times. But I was scared. Then I went abroad, and time passed.”
He took a breath.
“When I came back, I decided I wouldn't stay silent anymore.”
Yuseong covered her mouth as tears began falling.
Minhyun gently asked,
“Now tell me, Yuseong.”
She looked at him.
“Do you love me too?”
For years, Yuseong had believed that wishes were meaningless.
She had stopped asking the sky for anything.
She had thought the only wish she had ever made had been ignored.
But perhaps she had been wrong.
Maybe wishes didn't always arrive when we expected them to.
Maybe some wishes needed time.
Yuseong smiled through her tears.
“Yes.”
Her voice trembled.
“I love you too.”
Minhyun smiled.
And for the first time in years, Yuseong cried because she was happy.
That night, when she looked up at the sky, she saw a shooting star.
She smiled.
She didn't close her eyes this time.
She didn't make another wish.
Because she finally understood something.
Sometimes, a wish comes true without us even realizing it.
Her wish had once been to have someone who would stay.
She had found that person in an old woman who gave her a home.
Her wish had been to see someone else smile.
She had made a little girl's wish come true.
And now, without asking for it, life had finally given Yuseong something of her own.
Love.
A home.
A future.
She looked at the stars and whispered,
“Mom… I think wishes really do come true.”
And somewhere above her, the stars continued to shine.
