He presided over all that fell under the shadow of the night sky, his ebony hair falling over his shoulders and down his back like a dark waterfall, his black robes flowing out around him as he traversed the hills of a world he could never truly live in, the pallad moonlight making his skin look more ghostly pale then it already was, his eyes an even deeper starry black.

    Taekwoon was the god of the night, of all the quiet of the darkness and stillness of creatures. He was feared, but for all the wrong reasons. People thought he brought malicious creatures and people when he stepped upon this land, but he... didn’t. He only brought peace, quiet, and the escapist haze that is sleep. He traverses the land carrying a lantern, within it lies a pale light. This is moonlight. Without it, all the land of night would be complete darkness. And within that level of darkness lies chaos.

    But long, long ago, something strange happened.

    When Taekwoon was to retreat to his cave in the dark depths of the underworld to rest until it was his time again… the sun never started to rise.

    The moon stayed high in the sky. Never fading. The stars never blinked out. The sky never brightened. It was the start of an eternal night over the earth. All of the other gods naturally blamed him for it, calling him selfish and saying he wanted all of day’s hours for himself as well. Taekwoon denied their words with all he had. He said he had no idea where day had run off to, or why his counterpart seemed to be neglecting his duties. So, as a measure to prove his innocence, the gods sent him on a quest to find daylight, sending him with two birds.

    One raven, and one dove.

    If he found daylight after honestly searching for him and returned him back to the palace safely without purposefully harming him, the dove would coo, the gods hearing it and taking it as a sign of his innocence. But if it was revealed that he himself had compromised daylight and attempted to take all of the earth for himself, the raven would crow and peck his eyes out, the gods forsaking him from their heavenly palace forever. As he searched for daylight, each bird always remained on each one of his shoulders, never making any noise, silent until he needed to be judged.

    After many trials and much searching, Taekwoon found the god of day, Hongbin. He remembered his counterpart to be everything his opposite, soft honey hair like the sun’s essence itself, large warm brown eyes like the centers of sunflowers, golden robes that encircled his form like flames, and a smile that could strike even the most cold hearted god speechless. But… Taekwoon did not find him like this. He found daylight with all his powers ripped away from him, lying in chains before the great ogre who’s name shall never be spoken (for if you did it would bring him back). In the ogre’s great sceptre, the crowning ornament was not that of a jewel or bit of gold that he had stolen, but the god of day’s sun orb itself. Much like Taekwoon’s moon lantern, it was Hongbin’s guiding light, the source of his powers. And now it was in the ogre’s possession.

    Taekwoon commanded the ogre to release his hold over the god and his powers, as the world was crumbling into chaos without daylight. The ogre may have not looked smart, but he was as cunning as they came.

    So, he placed a wager on the orb and daylight. He wagered that Taekwoon couldn’t pick up daylight on his back and put him into the river in the forest. Taekwoon, thinking this was an easy bet, agreed. He placed the god upon his back, carrying him to the river and gently attempting to lower him into the shallows, as fire and water never mix well.

    But it turns out the ogre had rubbed sesame oil onto the god, causing him to slip out of night’s arms before he made it to the shallows, splashing into the water and immediately started to flail. He could not swim. Taekwoon tried to grasp daylight’s hand, pulling against the rapid current so strongly that his nails scratched Hongbin’s skin and made him bleed. technically, night had caused harm to day.

    The raven opened its beak and squawked harshly, beginning to peck out Taekwoon’s eyes. He had accidentally let go of hongbin because of this, the river’s currents sweeping the other god right back to the ogre’s temple. Both of the birds flew away, leaving night blind and lost with no guidance. But he knew the river led back to the ogre’s temple, so he followed the sounds of its rushing currents until, after a long while, he found the ogre once again.

    This time, it was Taekwoon who had a wager, and a plan. He told the ogre, feigning defeat, that he and daylight would both become his servants, but all he had to do to break their free will was break the sun orb. So the ogre tried. He tried and tried and tried, until he only managed to burst one crack within the orb, the light that emitted from it melting him to nothing. Daylight was touched by night’s resilience, and took it upon himself to nurse the other back to health and plead for his case with the rest of the gods whilst the two of them tried to restore the natural order. They fell in love during this time, and eventually daylight did convince the gods of night’s innocence. They married in the palace, and were awarded two gifts.

    One was from the gem god Jaehwan, who had fashioned two false eyes for night out of moonstone to make up for the ones he lost. He could see with them again, but his eyes would forever remain a smooth glassy sheen. Never again carrying the dark starry irises he once had. It didn’t matter to daylight though, he loved him just the same.

    The next gift was the situation for their union in the first place. An eclipse. Fashioned for them by the god of the sky himself, Hakyeon, it is where the sun and moon meet. And that means, that even for a few seconds, day and night get to spend more time together then they usually do, which isn’t much.

    It is said, that sometimes, if you look closely at sunrise or sunset, you can see the two lovers meeting once again. And if you ever see the moon in the sky during the day, that is night admiring his lover’s beauty and brilliance.