"Some say love between two different worlds is the quietest curse gravity can cast.
You are a star blazing in the highest layer of the sky, while I am the Event Horizon—the point of no return that slowly pulls everything into darkness.
If you take even a single inch closer to the collapsing world I inhabit, my gravity will only destroy your light, tearing your soul into fragments of atoms that can no longer be recognized.
We were created in different layers of the universe—where becoming one means annihilating each other."
💫💫💫💫💫
The letter didn't merely arrive.
It invaded Faira's office—an office usually occupied by stacks of technical journals and the faint scent of milk coffee slowly going cold.
On the slightly peeling surface of her desk lay a pristine white envelope stamped with the official emblem of the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ESCAT). It looked like an anomaly—too clean, too authoritative for a government office where people argued about stationery budgets more often than the exploration of galaxies.
Faira held the title of Senior Research Scientist at the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency, a designation that sounded impressively sophisticated on a business card but often felt, in reality, closer to being a glorified paperwork administrator.
She had been staring at the letter for nearly an hour.
Her fingers still remembered the cold sensation from when she first received the large envelope that morning from the administrative staff—just as she had rushed down the hallway, breathless from running to make the fingerprint attendance scan on time.
Faira never imagined that the day she once wrote down in a wish list five years ago while studying in Oxford would actually come true.
The single sheet of paper in her hand confirmed it:
She had been selected as an Astrophysicist and Planetary Researcher.
This wasn't merely a job offer.
It was the ghost of a dream she had buried deep in the past—along with the bitter memory at Heathrow Airport when she had turned her fate around to spend the final days of her mother's life back in Jakarta.
Now the offer was bringing her back to Harwell, Oxfordshire.
A place that had once been home to all her ambitions—and the place where she had left her heart behind without ever saying goodbye properly.
All day, Faira's functionality as a scientist dropped dramatically.
Her mind drifted somewhere between data she should have been analyzing and fragments of the past she had never truly resolved.
Anika, her coworker—usually the most vocal, or rather the loudest—had to tap the desk several times just to confirm that Faira was still occupying the same dimension.
"Fay, seriously. Your focus is completely offside today," Anika complained. "I've been asking about the satellite parameter revisions for ten minutes and you're just staring into space like you're counting stars in broad daylight."
Faira forced a small grin, hoping to avoid Anika's impending rant.
The restlessness followed her home.
Since returning from work, she had locked herself inside her room, staring again at the envelope that now felt less like an opportunity and more like a moral weight.
Every time she imagined herself landing in England again, one variable kept surfacing—one she couldn't simply leave behind.
Her younger sister.
"Geez, Kak, I seriously can't stand watching you look this miserable anymore."
Faira startled.
Fanya stood at the doorway, arms crossed.
Now twenty years old and a Pure Mathematics student at the University of Indonesia, Fanya had an uncanny ability to read Faira's thoughts—even before Faira herself fully understood them.
"I saw the ESCAT letter," she said. "I know you're hesitating because of me. But please—don't let my existence jeopardize your dream. I'm an adult, you know."
Faira bit her lower lip, worry evident in her gaze.
"But you haven't graduated yet. You're the only family I have left. If I go back to England… who will you live with here? Who'll make sure you're eating properly? What if something happens?"
Fanya clicked her tongue and walked into the room, sitting at the edge of the bed.
"Kak, if you said this five years ago when Mom had just passed away, I might understand. But I'm not a teenager anymore who needs reminders to eat."
She shrugged casually.
"I'll probably be busier with my own life than you expect. I can take care of myself."
Faira remained silent.
Fanya sighed, her voice softer but firm.
"Mom would be sad if she knew you were still stuck here just because you feel responsible for me. You've always belonged out there, Kak—at the center of the scientific world."
Her sister smiled gently.
"The astronomy you spent years studying isn't meant to end up as stacks of proposals inside the drawer of a bureaucracy that doesn't even know the difference between a comet and an asteroid."
Fanya squeezed her hand.
"As for me, I'll apply for a master's scholarship in the UK. I study mathematics—numbers don't lie when it comes to probabilities. We don't really have anyone left in Indonesia anyway. Wouldn't it make more sense if we both just built our new lives there?"
For the first time that evening, Faira felt something loosen in her chest.
A solution to the most impossible equation of her life.
"Why are you the more rational one between the two of us?" she muttered, trying to hide the emotion creeping into her voice.
"Because you use too many feelings when it comes to family," Fanya replied while grabbing a cracker from a jar, producing a loud crunch.
"And honestly? Who could stand hearing you complain every day about the bureaucracy at BRIN?"
Faira grimaced.
"You have no idea how close I am to burning out there. Sometimes the only thing keeping me sane is repeating prayers every time someone asks me to revise a completely absurd proposal."
She groaned dramatically.
"They literally suggested cutting planetary research funding to pay for ceremonial catering boxes. It's basically a black hole swallowing my sanity."
Fanya burst out laughing.
"See? Even your logic is protesting. So what are you waiting for? Don't let a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity turn into cosmic dust just because you're overthinking."
She walked toward the kitchen, then peeked back into the room.
"Send ESCAT your reply now. That letter has been sitting there for three days. If the offer expires because you forgot to hit 'Send,' I swear I'll tell the whole world that my genius sister was defeated by a single email button."
Faira snorted despite herself.
"You do realize scientific thinking takes time, right? Precision down to the smallest decimal point."
"Precision or procrastination?" Fanya shouted from the kitchen.
"Come on, Kak! Before someone else takes the position while you're still busy thinking about it!"
Faira laughed softly.
The tightness in her chest finally faded.
She took a deep breath, looked at her still-open MacBook, and began typing the lines that would change the orbit of her life forever.
💫💫💫💫💫
Exactly one month after surrendering to the pull of her future at ESCAT, Faira Adrianna breathed the air of Oxfordshire once again.
The oxygen here felt startlingly different.
Pure. Crisp. Sharp.
A stark contrast to Jakarta's heavy atmosphere thick with dust and exhaust fumes.
Yet sometimes, even as her lungs adapted to the clarity, she still missed the familiar suffocation of Jakarta.
The chorus of car horns during rush hour.
The smell of satay drifting through the streets of Thamrin.
And of course—Fanya's endless chatter.
A month ago, that had been her entire world.
Now her world had shrunk into the quiet of a minimalist apartment in Harwell she had only moved into a few days ago.
Faira leaned back after unpacking the final box filled with old books and sentimental items Fanya had shipped via air cargo.
She was arranging things in a newly purchased shelving unit from Wayfair UK—after hours of struggling with confusing assembly instructions—when her phone suddenly rang, shattering the silence.
The name flashing on the screen nearly made her jump.
Sarah Hastings.
Her best friend since university days, whose communication frequency had remained oddly consistent despite distance and time zones.
Faira had barely slid the green button when Sarah's voice exploded through the speaker before she could even say hello.
"FAIRAAA, I'M ENGAGED!"
Faira instinctively screamed back.
"Shut up! You did?! Sarah, that's incredible! Congratulations, babe!"
Sarah sounded like she had just won the national lottery.
"It took five bloody years for that idiot Joe to finally kneel down and propose! I was literally about to give him an ultimatum this week!"
Faira smiled widely.
"I doubt you could ever leave Joseph Westwick. You two were practically designed to annoy each other forever. No matter how far you try to run, you always end up in the same place."
She softened her voice.
"I'm truly happy for both of you, darling."
Sarah sighed happily.
"Faira, I'm also thrilled you're back in England. Though I still want to protest to ESCAT for not opening an office in central London so you could live closer to me."
Faira laughed.
"Oxfordshire to London is barely an hour and a half. That's faster than my commute in Jakarta during rush hour. I could reach you before you even finish putting on eyeliner."
Sarah burst into laughter.
"You belong here, you know."
Faira fell silent, glancing out the large window of her apartment.
The Oxfordshire sky that evening was pearl grey—melancholic yet promising at the same time.
Like the universe was quietly keeping a secret.
Waiting for the perfect moment to reveal it.
💫💫💫💫💫
Sarah and Joseph's engagement party that evening was held in the ballroom of a boutique hotel in Mayfair, London.
The atmosphere was intimate yet radiated absolute luxury—very much Sarah's signature taste.
As the Maid of Honor, Faira had essentially been "kidnapped" by Sarah since the afternoon. She had spent hours making sure the silhouette of her best friend's silk gown remained flawless beneath the glow of crystal chandeliers, occasionally glancing around the room at a crowd that looked as though it had been curated straight from the pages of Vogue.
"Faira Adrianna! Oh my God—is that really you?!"
A man in a terracotta slim-fit suit charged toward her with wildly expressive hand gestures.
Michelle Gerard.
Their most flamboyant friend. The most brutally honest one. And now—undeniably Parisian.
"Michelle!" Faira squealed softly, allowing herself to be swallowed into a hug scented with expensive niche perfume.
"Bloody Mary, you disappeared to Jakarta for five years and you still look like a scientist who just stepped off a satellite!" Michelle pulled back slightly, inspecting Faira from head to toe with the sharp gaze of a seasoned professional.
"How have you been? Still busy counting stars that never return your affection?"
Faira laughed.
"More or less. I'm at ESCAT now—senior research scientist, according to the people at the office. What about you? Being Parisian really suits you."
Michelle waved his hand dramatically—the exact gesture Faira had missed all these years.
"Paris is cruel, darling. Being a publicist there is like living inside The Devil Wears Prada every single day. Except my boss is far scarier than Miranda Priestly. But at least I get backstage access to Fashion Week."
"An astrophysicist and a Parisian publicist," Sarah chimed in, sipping her champagne while watching the two of them proudly. "You two have come a long way."
"Of course we have!" Michelle replied, pinching Faira's cheek affectionately.
"But Fay, be careful tonight, alright? London's air feels a bit… strange. You might glitch if you see something a little too familiar."
Faira only smiled faintly, unaware that Michelle's warning would turn into prophecy five minutes later.
The room suddenly fell silent when Joseph stepped to the center of the ballroom and raised his crystal glass.
"Thank you all for being here tonight," he said warmly. "But the main speech won't be from me. I'd like to invite the person who knows exactly how pathetic I was while trying to win Sarah over."
He grinned.
"My best man—please take the floor."
Faira, who had been adjusting the delicate folds at Sarah's waistline, froze instantly.
Every joint in her body seemed to lock when a tall figure with broad shoulders stepped into the center of the room.
Hero.
Her only Hero.
Hero Maxwell Campbell.
He stood there, effortlessly discarding the stiffness of a traditional tuxedo. Instead, he wore a sharp, custom-made black suit that framed his athletic build, paired with a premium white T-shirt underneath.
Minimalist. Chic.
Yet undeniably powerful—the aura of a man completely at ease with the world he now belonged to.
Hero began speaking, his calm baritone echoing through the sound system, sending a strange vibration straight to Faira's chest.
"Joe, Sarah… you're proof that some things in this universe are simply destined to remain in the same orbit, no matter how far they try to drift apart."
But halfway through the sentence, Hero's gaze swept across the room—
and stopped.
His focus shattered.
The rest of his sentence hung suspended in the air for several seconds that felt eternal to anyone watching.
His eyes had found Faira.
Surprise flashed across his face—raw and unguarded.
Then something deeper followed.
Longing.
Hero swallowed, his voice slightly unsteady as he continued, as if the speech had suddenly become meant for only one person in the room.
"People say astronomy teaches us that the starlight we see tonight may come from something that died long ago.
But to me, there is another kind of light.
A light that stays in our memory. One that, even after being buried beneath distance and thousands of miles, never truly disappears. It only waits for the right moment to shine again before our eyes—reminding us that some things can never be erased by time."
Hero's gaze never left Faira.
What should have been a congratulatory toast for Sarah and Joe now carried a hidden message that pierced straight through Faira's chest.
"To Joe and Sarah… congratulations for having the courage to stay. Because for some of us, letting go is the most painful thing we've ever had to do. And finding the way back home is a miracle not everyone is fortunate enough to receive. But tonight, watching you both… I realize that no matter how far something drifts into the darkness of the universe, it will always long for its center of gravity.
And sometimes, that miracle arrives at the exact moment we think it's already too late."
Hero raised his glass, his eyes still locked on Faira with an intensity that was almost unbearable.
"To enduring love… and to ann unexpected return to where the heart belongs. Cheers."
The moment the toast ended, Faira slipped away toward the edge of the ballroom and headed for the drinks table.
Her breathing had turned shallow. The champagne glass trembling in her hand betrayed the chaos in her chest.
That speech…
Those words...
They were hers.
Words she had once spoken years ago during their late-night conversations beneath the Oxford sky—when she used to ramble endlessly about astrophysics while Hero listened with a quiet smile.
She had always assumed he never really remembered them.
Apparently, he did.
Hero hadn't been speaking to the guests.
He had been speaking to her.
Before she could calm her heartbeat, a familiar scent suddenly drifted through the air.
Warm. Dangerously familiar.
"Faira?"
Her heart dropped.
For a moment she closed her eyes, silently cursing the universe for placing her back into a situation she had never wanted to face again.
Faira turned slowly.
Hero stood there.
Too close.
Close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating from his body. The tension between them was overwhelming.
Yet Hero couldn't hide the unmistakable happiness shining in his eyes.
"Sarah never mentioned you were back in England," he said, his voice far softer now without the microphone.
"Just about a month," Faira replied, forcing calm into her voice despite the thunder in her chest. "Your speech… it was beautiful."
Hero chuckled quietly.
A nervous sound that felt oddly out of place for someone accustomed to standing before cameras and crowds.
"Beautiful? I nearly forgot how to speak properly right when I saw you standing next to Sarah," he admitted. "For a second I thought I was hallucinating from getting lack of sleep."
Faira smiled faintly.
"The great Hero Campbell—getting stage fright just by seeing me?"
"The effect was far worse than stage fright," he replied.
Their conversation had just begun to settle into a fragile rhythm— when suddenly a woman in a striking crimson couture gown appeared behind him.
Without warning, she slipped her arm around Hero's waist and kissed him.
Right in front of Faira.
Everything inside her froze.
The woman turned with a bright smile.
"Oh—hi! Am I interrupting something?" she said cheerfully. "Honey, I'm so sorry I'm late. Traffic nearly drove me insane."
Hero stiffened slightly, though he didn't remove her arm.
"Faira… this is Arianna. Arianna Sinclair."
The woman extended her hand politely.
"Hi, I'm Arianna," she said warmly.
Then she added with effortless confidence.
"Hero's girlfriend."
Faira stared at the hand.
Then at the sparkle in Arianna's eyes—
a sparkle she had once believed belonged only to her.
The name Arianna rolled off Hero's tongue with such easy familiarity, such softness—
that something inside Faira detonated like a silent supernova.