When I first saw him, I had thought I knew life for what it already was. I was still young, but I had experienced so much so as to have formed my own opinions on the world we lived in. Everything I knew about reality had been constant until he shattered the darkness of the myths which I created to protect myself.
 

~

Seungkwan had been staring in speechless astonishment at the silhouette leaning over him while he lay in bed. As Kwan's eyes adjusted to the darkness, with the aid of the moon providing what little light it could offer, he began to recognize the face of youthfulness before him as that of a boy. The stranger didn't appear to be older than him by any  means, and his eyes gave him an even more innocent expression as they returned the same level of scrutiny which Seungkwan's gave off.

Growing uncomfortable in the silence, and unable to move much with the boy on all fours above him, Kwan interrupted the silence.

"H-Hello?"

"Can you help me find my shadow?"

"What?!"

Finally rising, and in turn allowing Seungkwan to sit up once and for all, the strange boy began walking around in the darkness of the room, shifting Seungkwan's belongings about.

Once again, it would be up to him to continue to contribute to conversation.

"How did you get in here?"

"I flew in through the window, of course."

"Oh, of course," Seungkwan replied, trying to mask his sarcasm to be polite. "Then what is your name?"

He heard a sigh from the corner of his room, and tried not to make a sour face as the mystery visitor expressed his disdain for playing twenty questions.

"My name is Vernon. Now will you please help me find my shadow?? It came in here as I was passing by."

"Right, your shadow.. You said you were passing by?"

"Yes, so please, the sooner I find it the sooner I can go back to what I was doing."

Kwan stepped toward the window, where the milky light of the waxing moon almost blinded him with its brilliance in comparison to the shadows of his quarters. Looking back over the room as Vernon continued his search, he thought back to the conversation he had with his parents this morning about his schooling.

He was a top performer in his classes, despite how often to came across as a class clown, and his attendance was more than punctual, having arrived before the teachers occasionally. It wasn't necessarily that he loved school, however, but that he loved his parents and didn't want to disappoint them. He had hoped that, with all his time representing himself well through his grades, he would be able to convince his parents to allow him to study performing arts in the future.

Today's conversation, however, ended up blowing up in his face, and he was shut down with nothing more than a "consider your future seriously." In his eyes, that was a resounding 'no,' and he could feel part of himself wear away with that disappointment. His future was no longer in his hands, despite everything he had tried to do to secure it, which seemed so pointless in hindsight. Looking down at his palms in the pale light, Seungkwan had never felt as empty before as he had in that moment, until--

"Hey, be careful!" Vernon marched over sternly, startling Seungkwan out of his stupor, chastising him. "That's close to where I was when my shadow came in here and disappeared--"

Vernon's speech drifted off as he turned to see a familiar form following him now that he was bathed in the moonlight. Seungkwan's lost expression slowly morphed into one of almost disgust as he realized this manchild didn't comprehend how light and shadows worked.

Marinated in sarcasm that he assumed would go above the boy's head, Seungkwan's words flowed from his lips. "I guess your shadow was hiding right behind you the entire time.."

"I guess so, hahah!" Vernon's laugh was boisterous and full of life, his hands resting on his hips as he tilted his head back to let the uproar catch as much of the room's acoustics as possible. For a brief moment, Seungkwan wished his parents would wake up to banish this tomfoolery from his presence so he could get back to sleep. Kwan was so immersed in his displeasure that he hadn't registered Vernon's waving from the window sill. On the second floor.

Hissing sharply, Seungkwan reached for the young man. "What are you doing?!?"

With another laugh, however, the other boy's arm was out of reach, and soon he dropped out of sight. Rushing to look down toward the street below him, Seungkwan found himself wide-eyed with his mind worried for the worst.

His eyes were not met with closure, however, as there was no boy with broken bones lying on the sidewalk, no screams of pain or sharp shrieks. Just laughter that echoed into the night, with naught but the shimmer of the moon and two bright stars to guide it.