Wheein peered out from behind the access door across the roof. The steel jungle of pipes and air conditioners presented itself to her, winding its way across the entire rooftop. The darkness roamed uninterrupted except for a few sparse trickles of pale light, allowing Wheein to easily see the glow of a phone screen. The deep rumble of the air units formed a monotonous symphony that allowed a distinct noise its own solo. The husky murmuring of a certain voice.

So this is where you ran off to...

The door clicked back into place, the sharp noise dulled by all the machinery, and Wheein began to thread her way through the maze of steel. Not daring to use her phone as a beacon of light Wheein navigated through the fixtures having only the distant screen as her lighthouse. Stretched out between the pipes, hands stumbling on the worn surfaces, Wheein drifted closer and closer to her destination. At the edge of the light she stopped, not out of the maze but able to see the figure more clearly.

She was leaning on the guard rail, phone in hand, staring both at the bright screen in front of her and at the urban landscape. It was nearly 3 in the morning already, but countless office lights were still glowing, sketching random patterns across corporate easels, these artificial paintings copied and pasted countless times across miles and miles of space. The hustle and bustle of the cars below was evident to the eyes, but to the ears the chaos was reduced to a distant roar. Towering metal behemoths rose into the sky, the skyline turned into a series of ups and downs that went through both extremes. The urban landscape kept unwinding but was eventually met by a river. And as clear as the night sky a line was drawn, separating man from nature. Steel titans gave way to wooden sentinals surrounded by both larger and smaller colleagues, the conflict between the two backlit with glowing silver. The man-made lamps lost their glare and were washed out by the pure celestial lights. 

But all of this was merely the background, as Wheein's view focused on the older girl in front of her who had now climbed over the railing and was gazing out into the void.

Step by step Wheein began moving towards the railing, each step accompanied by a silent prayer. A prayer for Moonbyul to not move. A prayer that went unanswered as Moonbyul's feet began to shuffle towards the edge, as her toes met empty space. The older girl wasn't hesitating. She wasn't unsure or doubtful or even scared. She was just taking things slowly. More and more of her feet began to slide over the edge until she was at the halfway point. The arch of her feet were on the corner of the ledge, her toes free and her weight on her heels. A little nudge is all it would take.

"U-unnie?"

Moonbyul's head whipped around and found Wheein standing there inches away. Both of them froze, neither wanting to say anything that would trigger an outburst or sudden movement, both wanting the other to say something. But silence reigned over the darkened rooftop. Moonbyul broke eye contact first, looking down at the guard rail that separated them before turning her head back towards the open air in front of her. 

And she stepped off...

And she stepped off of the ledge, leaving it and the empty air behind her. Metal quickly rose above her head as she ducked back under the railing, only to be tackled by Wheein and dragged away. 

Moonbyul could feel the heat of Wheein's hands on hers. The younger girl was burning in comparison to the frozen unnie. The grip on her hand was painfully strong, nails digging into her wrist as if she would sprint back to the abyss. The two moved further and further away from the edge until they neared a wall. Their pace slowed but the grip on Moonbyul didn't falter.

"Wheein? Are you okay?"

Wheein jerked to a stop. She stared at Moonbyul incredulously, letting their hands fall. 

"Am I okay? You're asking me if I am okay?" Wheein's voice strained to keep itself level, her hands fighting to keep themselves still. "After what I just saw and you're wondering if I am okay?! What do expect me to say? That I'm perfectly fine with seeing you almost kill yourself?"

"That's not what I was-"

"Don't ing lie to me like that!"

"I'm not!"

"Well then what the were you doing?!"

"I was just... thinking." Moonbyul looked down at her feet and tucked her hands away into her pockets. "I'm sorry if I woke you when I left."

An incredulous stare met Moonbyul's statement before it faded into a tired resignation. Wheein's body lost the tension it had been holding and all that remained now was an exhausted little puppy. Her arms simply reached out to slip around and hold Moonbyul tight to her small frame while her head rested on a now warm shoulder. 

The nervous energy in the air had dispersed and the rumbling of the roof fell silent for a moment, allowing the night to permeate the air. 

"Fine." Wheein whispered. "You better have been thinking about me then."