***

In the beginning, as many genesis stories will have you believe, there was only the darkness. That vast, terryifying, unending darkness that made life impossible to exist.

However, as invulnerable and powerful the darkness may seem, there was one thing that had the ability to defeat it. One thing that could conquer the wretched darkness and bring life into existence.

Light.

Blinding, pure, beautiful light that shone amidst all that blackness, that shone and shone to drive away the cold, to give sight to a newly born universe, light that could contain that never-ending darkness and overrule it. There was so much power and joy to be found in light that throughout the years, humans worshipped its powers, fell down their knees in admiration to it. So respected and amazing the light was that humans turned to it as though it was a God.

The light gave sight in darkness, warmth in the cold, life in death. In a way, the light should be respected and admired, not something to be trifled with, nor to be taken “lightly”.

And yet…

“Look, Baekhyun-ssi! It’s a bird! Isn’t it beautiful?” Lili smiled brightly as she showed him the paper lantern bird she had been working on. She had used vivid colors that would undoubtedly look beautiful when the lantern would be lit up at night.

Baekhyun smiled at her handiwork and nodded. “Yeah, it looks good, noona.” He put up his thumbs but Lili wasn’t happy with his lukewarm response.

“Hey, what’s with that answer? What’s wrong with you, Baekhyun-ssi? You’re usually very enthusiastic when the Lantern Festival is coming up,” she nearly pouted. “As being part of the Party and Events Organisation Club, you have to be more chipper about this! Where’s your usual happy, energetic spirit, Baekhyun-ssi?”

“Sorry, Lili-noona, I guess I’m just tired…” he muttered, trying to give her one of his more brilliant smiles.

“Well, make sure you rest up then! We need your energy! Well, we need all the energy we can get considering that we have to think of a way to light up all of these lanterns,” she laughed. “Why don’t you see how the proceedings are going at the town square? See if they need help with decorations and if most of the lanterns are already lit, okay?”

The prospect of having to pretend to be into the Lantern Festival and diligently checking on all those frivolous lanterns was not something Baekhyun was in the mood for.

“Um, actually, noona, I forgot but I still need to finish my history homework, so I can’t go and check the decorations,” he quickly said, making up the excuse as he went along. It wasn’t that he was lying per se, he actually did have some homework he needed to finish, but it wasn’t as important as he made it seem.

Lili pouted at him. “Since when do you choose doing homework over party preparation?” she asked skeptically, narrowing her eyes at him. “You’re not getting sick, are you, Baekhyun-ssi?”

Yes, sick of this stupid festival… 

“N-no, of course not, noona, it’s just…” he trailed off, not even wanting to put in the effort of making another excuse. He felt like Lili-noona sensed that he wasn’t in the mood and he felt silly lying to her about it. She’s always been a lot more astute than she let on. He grinned sheepishly.

“Tell you what, why don’t you go to the town square anyway and head over to the Happy Virus Cafe? Relax a bit, do what you need to do to get out of your funk, and then let me know how things are going, okay?” she suggested sweetly. “I’m counting on you, Baekhyun-ssi. Fighting!” she encouraged.

“Thanks, noona,” Baekhyun smiled genuinely at her before taking his leave. He felt a little guilty towards Lili, but he just couldn’t help it. He wasn’t in the mood at all. Usually when festivities came along, Baekhyun absolutely loved helping out and getting involved. He was the one that energetically set the mood, kept things fun and light… The Lantern Festival would be considered “his” holiday, except, he just kind of, sort of, more or less, started to loathe it.

Yes, the Festival was all about light, and yes, the Festival was about good fun and chasing away the darkness, but why was it so…mellow?

Over the years, the Lantern Festival became more about admiring the gorgeous, often handmade, paper lanterns than actually honoring the light that gave those lanterns beauty in the darkness. That was another thing that irked him. If people did admire the light, they had no true, appreciative admiration for it. The light was “pretty”, as if it held no other power! Ridiculous!

Baekhyun sighed when he arrived at the town square, fully decorated by a myriad of lanterns, ready to be lit when night would fall. The proceedings were on schedule, so Lili would be pleased to hear that, but it would take a massive amount of energy to light them all up without causing an island-wide power outage.

Of course, he was perfectly able to power up all the lanterns without so much as breaking a sweat, but that wasn’t the point at this moment.

Instead of heading to Chanyeol’s parents’ Happy Virus Cafe, Baekhyun decided to sit on a quiet bench to look over his homework and to try to enjoy his moment of peace.

He looked at his own hands, wiggled his fingers. He had often seen the most exquisite light beam out from them, and in a way, he should be happy and excited that there was a thing like the Lantern Festival, but he still felt down. Was it weird for him to sulk about this? The light was so much more than just pretty and delicate and convenient, it was so much more powerful than that. Festivals like these only emphasized the prettiness of the power of light, but it did nothing to show its true power. The whole thing just made him miserable, almost as if the festival was telling him that he was just something pretty to look at, something weak and not powerful at all. Baekhyun knew that it was silly and childish to take it personally like that, but he just couldn’t help it.

“Baekhyunnie!”

Hearing his name, Baekhyun looked up to see Chanyeol waving exaggeratedly at him from across the street. He was carrying a box of water bottles with him to take to the cafe, but in spite of this he still ran towards him, a big, goofy grin on his face as he put the box down.

“Hi,” he greeted, out of breath and grinning.

“Yah, why did you run here? This stuff is heavy, go back to the cafe,” Baekhyun scolded mockingly, unable to laugh at the look of shock on his friend’s face.

“Hey! I came all the way here to say hi, and this is how you treat me?” Chanyeol pouted. “So much for friendship! Yah, I should have ignored you then,” he stated dramatically, holding his chest as if his heart just broke.

Baekhyun smirked at the show, immediately mimicking him to make fun of him. “Yah! Goodbye friendship!” he said in a similar fashion, holding his chest before lying flat on the bench he’d been sitting on, signaling his fake death. A few moments later he felt water splashing against his face and saw that a grinning Chanyeol had opened one of the bottles, only to spray him wet with water.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” he protested.

“Why? I thought you were dead,” Chanyeol chuckled, spraying him with water more.

“Yah! Stop it!” Baekhyun flung his arms at Chanyeol to scare him away, wiping the water off his face. “Aren’t your parents going to smack you when they find out that you’re wasting products you’re supposed to sell?”

“I don’t know. Aren’t you supposed to help prepare the lanterns for the Lantern Festival instead of sulking on the bench by yourself?” Chanyeol quipped, sitting next to him and offering the bottle for Baekhyun to drink from.

“I wasn’t sulking,” Baekhyun still tried, taking a sip and returning it to Chanyeol. “I was just admiring the handiwork. Wow, a peach tree. Very original,” he said flatly, making Chanyeol laugh.

“I see you’re bursting out of the seems in enthusiasm,” he poked his arm. “It’s the light festival, Baekhyun! Isn’t this your time to shine?” he nudged his friend with his elbow, trying to make him smile. Baekhyun regarded him shrewdly.

“Shine? Really?”

“Pun completely intended,” Chanyeol answered straightforwardly, still grinning at him. “Oh, come on, Baekhyun, why are you so down about this? It’s a festival. It’s supposed to be fun. Jae-noona is looking forward to it, you know. Don’t you want to show off your skills for her when the festival starts?” Chanyeol then coaxed, noticing how sulky Baekhyun was, which was always strange for him to see.

“Of course I do! Not that I need to, I mean, Jae-noona already knows I’m the best compared to others–” he paused when Chanyeol splashed some water in his face, “it’s just that this festival…not really a good platform for light,” he finished, undeterred by Chanyeol’s interrupting.

“Not a good platform for–! Baekhyun-ah, this is the Lantern Festival!” Chanyeol emphasized. “Lantern, as in, light, as in, glow in the dark, as in, amazing and pretty to look at! What’s not good about it? Heck, I’d have a blast if this festival used actual fire for the lanterns instead of just light,” he said easily, watching a group of men set up a gigantic phoenix lantern in the middle of the town square. His eyes were gleaming with mirth, and Baekhyun could only imagine what he was thinking of.

“Everything would be set on fire if it were up to you,” he commented jokingly, though he worriedly pinched Chanyeol’s leg when he saw his friend smiling and nodding his head.

“Yah, I don’t think setting everything on fire is going to impress Jae-noona, you pyro!” he chuckled as there was no way for him to wipe that huge grin off his brother’s face. “If it makes you so happy, then why don’t you reclaim this festival, huh? I think I’ll pass, this year,” Baekhyun then spoke, sounding a lot more somber than usual.

Chanyeol stared at him for a few solid moments, clacking his tongue and sighing deeply. “Baekhyun-ah, get real. Why is this festival bothering you so much?”

Baekhyun shrugged. “It’s no big deal. All of it just seems useless, that’s all. It meaningless and demeaning towards the light,” he inhaled for breath. “Never mind, I’m just not in the mood for it, okay?” he tried his best to smile, but Chanyeol only stared worryingly at him.

“You know, the others will be at the restaurant waiting for the festival to begin. We thought you’d be too busy preparing everything, but we were thinking about making some lanterns together as well, to wish for good luck and such during the festival. Why don’t you come along? Spending time with us should cheer you right up!” Chanyeol offered. “Jae-noona wants to try to make a lantern with a butterfly, and if you’re not there, then I guess I’ll have to be the one to help her with it,” he added teasingly for good measure.

Baekhyun blinked a few times, considering the offer. However, when he thought about how everyone would expect him to show off his light powers for their amusement alone, he shook his head. “Thanks, Chanyeollie, but I’ll pass. You go instead. I promised Lili-noona to check on proceedings and I have some homework to finish for history class,” he replied, feeling a little guilty again. Chanyeol gawked at him.

“Are you serious?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine, you go ahead. Actually I kind of want to be by myself for a moment, okay? I’ll be all right, just give me a moment.”

Chanyeol looked a little sad but he seemed to understand, which Baekhyun was very grateful for.

“Okay. Just so you know, don’t sulk when you see me celebrating the festival with Jae-noona– I gave you that chance,” he warned in jest.

Baekhyun chuckled. “Oh, please, I have nothing to worry about. Jae-noona loves me more, anyway,” he taunted.

“Ha! In your dreams, maybe,” Chanyeol retorted. “Don’t regret it!” he picked up the box of water bottles and went on his way.

Baekhyun watched him leave. “Chanyeol-ah,” he called out, the tall teen turning around to look at him.

“Yeah?”

Pausing a moment, Baekhyun smiled warmly at him. “Thanks.”

Chanyeol grinned widely and winked before leaving to go back to his business.

Baekhyun saw the men setting up the gigantic lantern phoenix and something snapped. He didn’t want to be here. He needed to go some place quiet without all of the lanterns being up in his face everywhere he turned to look. He gazed at the trees further away and felt their pull. He nodded to himself.

The forest, it is.

Baekhyun couldn’t understand how some people found the woods unnerving. He felt like he could literally breathe here. There was fresh air, scent of pines, calming breezes and absolutely no lanterns. Just the whistle of actual birds already brought him peace of mind. Taking a deep breath while enjoying his stroll, Baekhyun found a quiet clearing to sit and rest, leaning easily against a tree while looking up.

He studied the rays of sunlight that peered through the leaves, smiling how it filtered the green and cast shadows on the forest floor.

There was simply no denying it; the light was truly beautiful to look at. It was gentle and pure, pretty, and absolutely harmless. It wasn’t that he was bitter that people perceived the light in a way, it was perhaps because they didn’t appreciate nor respect it in the way it deserved. The Lantern Festival was all good fun but he thought it was empty and useless.

“Aish,” he shook his head and grabbed his bag. “Why are you so worked up about this, Baekhyun?” he murmured to himself, clacking his tongue while opening up his history books. He’d much rather play a computer game right now, but anything that could take his mind off the whole festival ordeal was welcome. He sighed deeply while looking at his homework, figuring that he might be serious about this and get some stuff done, but it took him five minutes of actually concentrating before his mind started to wander off again.

He imagined how wonderful it would be to have a festival that properly honored the light, and what it would be like to become as warm and as bright as the rays of the sun. Did people even realize the importance of sunlight? Why did people always take things for granted? He closed his eyes a moment while enjoying the warm sunshine on his face. Hopefully the Lantern Festival would be over soon…