Sungyeol didn’t know when he had fallen asleep. When he woke up, thick sunlight was streaming in through the window, burning his cheeks. His body was warm under the blanket, which he didn’t remember putting on. As he d around the bed, his hand touched something cold. Cracking an eyelid open, he saw it was the Sacred Secrets. Relieved that it was still by his side, he fell asleep again.

The next time he woke up, it wasn’t the sunlight that greeted him but the figure of Woohyun sitting against the window. His head was bent and as he looked properly, he saw that Woohyun was reading the Sacred Secrets, more like flipping through the pages like it was an ordinary novel he couldn't be bothered to read properly.

“Hey,” he croaked as he sat up on the bed.

Woohyun jumped a bit, then smiled at him.

“I thought you’ll never wake up.”

“Me too.”

Woohyun’s smile vanished. He peered into his face intently.

“What happened? Did the book do anything funny to you?”

“Sapped all my energy, and it’s not funny.” Sungyeol made a face. He was feeling as if he had been run over by a hundred-tonne truck. His bones were aching and he felt that he could sleep for a whole year.

His throat was parched. He motioned towards the glass on his study table and Woohyun got up, bringing it to him.

Draining the water in one gulp, he said, “I almost died."

"Wow this book is a killer.”

“Are you still ready to go with me?”

Woohyun turned his eyes towards the book in his hand.

“Follow a crazy book’s instruction? Sounds like a plan.”

Sungyeol smiled gratefully.

“Thanks.”

“So your quest, what is it? Finding dragons?”

Suddenly, what he had read last night came back to him, and he shivered involuntarily. He thought about the words that had terrified him.

Should I tell Woohyun what’s going on?

What if he’s too scared?

He decided against it. He would have to tell him the quest of course but he couldn’t say what was at stake.

It would horrify his friend, it had already horrified him. But he had to do it, he had to push forward because so much was at stake. He wondered why his quest was so difficult, so close to impossible.

He pondered what his grandfather would have said.

“The most difficult quests are allotted to the ones who are the most worthy.”

That does make sense.

His heart abruptly filled with pride and joy – he was the most worthy of them all, on his shoulder rested such a heavy burden. He couldn’t let humanity down.

“Yeollie?”

“Yes?”

“The quest?”

“Oh yeah the quest.” Sungyeol took the book from his hand and skipped to the last page. He pointed to a paragraph towards the middle. “It’s written here.”

Woohyun squinted his eyes.

“If my eyes don’t betray me then that’s a different language.”

Sungyeol nodded.

“But I can translate for you.” Clearing his throat, he started. It was a short poem.

“Capture

the green star

under the blue moon;

hold it to your heart

at the end of the earth.”

“That sounds cool,” Woohyun said.

Sungyeol only nodded. He hadn’t explained everything to Woohyun – he hadn’t said to him that it was crucial to complete the mission by the allotted time.

“So what do we have to do exactly?”

Sungyeol gulped. He wasn’t sure about what exactly they had to do. But he was certain about what exactly would happen if they failed the quest.

I can do it, I’ve been chosen for this because I’m worthy.

“It’s simple really. We have to find the green star and hold it at a specific time.”

Woohyun blinked a few times as if he had missed something.

“We have to hold a star?” he asked incredulously.

Sungyeol nodded.

“Oh. Where’s the spaceship?”

Sungyeol shook his head exasperatedly. It wasn’t entirely Woohyun’s fault though; he wasn’t learned in Mystic Cosmology.

“We can catch stars without a spaceship. But first we need to find out the exact time. Time is very important in Mystic Cosmology, so is the location.”

He took up the book and started to turn the pages slowly. The blue moon or the end of the earth hadn’t been mentioned in any of the ages but as far as he recalled, he had heard his grandfather talking about blue moons. They were certain nights but he wasn’t sure exactly which times were termed as blue moon.

I have to look in grandfather’s notebook.

Asking Woohyun to wait in his room, he went up to the library at the back of the house to search for the old notebook. The library mostly contained a collection of his grandfather’s books and copies. He dusted them and read through them whenever he got the time. None of the others in his family was interested.

As the musty smell hit him, he realized that he hadn’t been in the library in a while. He had missed it. The ancient bindings, many of which his grandfather had gone through a lot of pain lay on the shelves, untouched and dusty.

All of a sudden, he really missed his grandfather. His life’s passion had been to get hold of the Sacred Secrets and now he, Sungyeol, his grandson was in possession of the powerful book. He felt proud and soulful at the same time – he had indeed fulfilled his grandfather’s wish but at the same time he wished his grandfather was here to share the moment with him.

Whatever happens, you’ll be my hero.

Knowing he shouldn’t waste any time, he looked around for the leather-bound notebook. He found it on the top shelf and blowing the dust from the cover, leafed through it eagerly. He vaguely remembered coming across a page where his grandfather had listed down important dates and timed for mystic cosmologists along with their significances.

It has to be here.

Finally arriving on the correct page, he searched for blue moon, but didn’t find it. At the next try, he went slower, reading the words and eventually pinpointed the blue moon.

Okay so the blue moon is the second full moon in a single solar calendar month and occurs every two to three years.

He now remembered vaguely talking to his grandfather about the blue moon. He tried to recall that particular memory, jogging his brain.

Calendar…something about the…wait, the calendar!

The memory came back to him vividly. His grandfather was making his own personalized calendar, marking important dates on it. He included many future years in it, hoping that it would help Sungyeol someday as well.

That day has come!

He dived towards the back of the room where there was a small black closet. The last time he had cleaned the room, he recalled seeing the calendar in the closet. Searching through the grubby scrolls of papers, he finally found the large roll of parchment he was looking for. But his eyes also started to sting what with all the dust and dirt. Scooping up the roll in his hand, he slammed the closet door shut and ran out of the library.