After another moment he lost his bearing and ran his fingers through Sohyun’s hair one more time.  He figured it worth it when she punched him in the shoulder.  Her hair was short, really short.  What used to be a thick of brown running down her back was now only ear length.  When she woke up she was in a puddle of her own hair.  It just managed to fall off in her sleep.  After panicking and screaming and cursing, asking if someone had pulled a bad prank on her, no one figured out what had actually happened, Mrs. Kwon gave Sohyun a proper haircut and everyone dealt with it.

“You were so much prettier with long hair.”  Ilhoon commented earning himself another punch.

They sat at the peak of a hill overlooking the town.  They could see the empty apartment buildings, the empty schools, the empty houses, the processed landscape of trees and grass.  They wanted to get away.

“Tell me the story of when the sun returned.”  Sohyun spoke dryly.  She had been in a very bitter mood and Ilhoon attempted to leave her alone as to not step over bounds but he couldn’t help but tease the girl to lighten her up.  Sure enough she didn’t take any of his jokes serious enough to hurt him.

“Why do you want to hear it when you already know it?”  He asked.  She shrugged and asked him to.  “Well alright. In the year 2003 a state in America buried in the ocean.  It was called California.  For a few months scientists believed it to be an inevitable disaster but soon, in 2004, other lands in different countries all over the world began to have terrible tragedies.  Earthquakes so enormous they caused tsunamis to swallow entire cities in seconds.  Continents flooded or froze over.  Some places ceased to exist.  Some say they drowned in the ocean like California.  Barely anyone survived.  There was truly no escaping it.  After the natural disasters stopped, and whoever survived it were no better off. The air became bad, plaque struck and monsters ruled the lands.  But nothing was as devastating when day became eternal night.  One day the sun had set, and never rose again.”

Ilhoon shuddered.  The story always gave him goosebumps, especially knowing they were about to all experience it in less than 24 hours.  He finished up.  “Then the sun magically came back one day, people were able to walk the earth without dying and over the next two thousand years humanity built its way back up to civilization.  The end!”

“We can’t let that happen again.”  Sohyun stated dreadfully.  Ilhoon twisted his mouth and shrugged.

“Nothing much we can do about it.  We’re just kids.”

Sohyun looked at him.  “But there’s something I can do.”

“Like what?”

Sohyun blinked and thought best to not fill Ilhoon on her little secret.  She pulled her finger up to her lips and silently told him that she wasn’t telling.

Ilhoon rolled his eyes and brushed his hand across Sohyun’s hair again.  “What are you up to?”