“Let there be Light.”

She stared up at the familiar words that adorned the heavy gate at the entrance of the school, and squinted. Fittingly, the Sun's arc carried it to a point just beyond the iron letters, casting heavenly rays of light through the words as if to better emphasize their importance. For the millionth time, her eyes traced every curve, every line, and she sounded each part of the phrase slowly in her head, as if doing so would bring some new astounding insight to mind. But no. Not today. Today, the four words had no further truth for her, and were as ingrained and normal in her world as the sky was blue and the Sun was bright.

The Sun.

She let her gaze shift to the background, to the burning star beyond. She scowled at it. Sure, it was the single most important reason that their commune thrived. It brought them crops, it gave them light to read and work and study. It gave them energy. And above all, it kept the night creatures at bay. It was no wonder that everyone followed the Sun, worshipped it, even told old stories about it.

But to her, the Sun was overrated. After all, unlike anyone else, she had once seen the Moon. And to her, there was nothing more beautiful.

It was the edge of summer, and though it was early morning, the heat was already beginning to swelter. A bead of sweat trickled down her neck, but she paid it no mind, keeping her black sweater zipped up tight and her hood pulled down low overhead. Around her, a current of students hurried past into the school, some casting her weird looks as she stood there still as a statue and stared at the blinding Sun. When she couldn't hold its harsh gaze anymore, she looked away, blinking rapidly, little black and white dots pricking her vision. Just then, another passing student nudged hard against her shoulder, threatening to throw her off balance.

“Watch it, loser,” he spat, shoving off and marching with all the others into the gate. She had just regained her footing and thought to shoot him a dirty look when he disappeared into the crowd. Just then, another voice entered her awareness.

“You alright there, Mei?”

She turned and stared up into warmest pair of brown eyes she had ever known. “Hey, Suho,” she said, straightening herself and readjusting her hood. Watching her, her best friend smirked.

“Aren't you hot wearing that thing?” he asked, pinching playfully at her sleeve.

She brushed him off, trying not to let her smile break through her annoyed look. “Burning.”

“And why are you still wearing it?”

“It's a matter of principle.”

“Of course it is.” He smiled at her and made the usual exaggerated show of bowing and offering the crook of his arm. “May I you to class, my lady?” he said, laughter in his eyes. Behind him, the school bell rang. They were late today, but Suho didn't seem to care.

She smiled back and graciously slid her arm in his. “The pleasure is mine,” she said as they walked together through the dark iron gates.

*******

For Mei, school was a dull imprisonment. Where everyone else valued the boring class lectures, carrying lofty dreams of joining the commune's top scientists and researchers and engineers, she alone could care less. Her interests lay far, far away from chemistry and genomics and whatever else they taught, much to the chagrin of her teachers. They would always titter amongst themselves, just loud enough so that she could here how the only child of Dr. Lee Sunghwan was an “utter disappointment,” a “waste of the good doctor's talent and brain.” But she would just sigh and shrug it off. Maybe vent to Suho if it ever got too much to handle.

Suho.

She let her idle gaze wander over to him. Like the model student he was, he was enraptured with today's lecture, furiously taking notes and frantically flipping pages. She chuckled to herself, wondering if he even found time to breath in all his chaotic movement. Just then, he caught her eye, and then contorted his face in a way to urge her to pay attention. In response, she rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat, her hood almost completely covering her line of vision. She heard him sigh sardonically and resume his note-taking. Then, from beneath her hood, she peeked at the clock.

There was only one class on their schedule that she cared about. Ironically, it was the one class that everyone else hated, that everyone else did bad in. Creatures of the Dark. And it started in 20 minutes.

She settled into her seat, wondering if she should take a nap until then.

*******

After class, she headed to the one place in school that made her attendance there worthwhile. The roof. Sure, it was in full exposure of the unforgiving Sun, but she tolerated it because it also afforded her the highest viewpoint in the commune. From its height, not only can she see the entirety of the town in her wake, but she could also see the Wall, and mysterious dark-green void that lay beyond.

On this day, she wondered about the violent carnivores that lived in that dark and unknown world behind the Wall, imagining what they looked like, how tall they were, how quickly they could move and how mercilessly they can attack. Just thinking about them was terrifying. In class, the other students would quell their anxiety by shifting the focus onto the genes of those humanoid animals or the science behind a widespread chemical defense should they ever breach our walls. And the teachers would always try to put a damper on the fear, encouraging the class to instead think of developing a cure for those dangerous others. “Just like Dr. Lee Sunghwan,” they would say, casting disappointing looks in Mei's direction.

But Mei was always too lost in her own curiosity, too distracted in her imaginings of those strange creatures. So distracted that, today, she scooted to the very edge of the roof, her feet dangling over its dizzyingly-high cliff, her own safety forgotten as she fixed her gaze at the Wall, until Suho's worried call broke her reverie.

“Yah!” he said, barging through the roof access door. The sound sent a jolt of surprise through Mei's spine, and she realized at once where she perched precariously on the high ledge and quickly drew herself back.

Suho rushed to her side. “What are you thinking?!” he said, pushing her back angrily even though she was already far from the edge.

She scowled and pushed his arm away. “I'm okay! I'm okay. Geez, I'm sorry. Won't do it again,” she said, trying to act nonchalant though her heart still beat rapidly in her chest. What was she thinking?

He stared at her in disbelief before hanging his head and plopping down beside her. “Please act with some level of self-preservation. Even if it's just every once in a while.”

“Suho, I thought you'd know me better by now. I'm always safe. I just like to... live on the edge?” she said with a teasing shrug. He smirked.

“Haha, very punny. But let's focus on keeping that a figurative thing, not a literal one, hm?” He reached into his backpack and pulled out a couple sandwiches. “Hungry?” he said, handing her one.

She unwrapped it quickly and ravenously bit into it. He watched, amused.

“Is your dad so mad at you that he forgot to feed you or something?”

“No,” she mumbled, cheeks full of food. “But you know how it is. He's on the brink of inventing that... that... that vaccine or whatever. For the dark creatures.” She swallowed her mouthful and took another bite. “He's so stressed out, and on top of that, the whole news team is always at our house. At least he remembers to leave me money to buy food, but I could only buy so many microwave greens before I puke.”

Suho chuckled. “Sounds like the Father of the Year. But I mean... at least you have a father.”

She glanced sidelong at him. He was just staring across the commune at the Wall, no emotion apparent on his face. She hesitated before speaking.

“Suho. You okay?”

He bit hard into his sandwich. When he spoke again, his voice was smaller. “Yeah. Just miss him, I guess. It was 10 years ago today, you know.”

“I know.”

A silence fell between them. She munched on her food.

“Sorry,” he said. “Didn't mean to kill the mood.”

“No worries. I mean, as long as you are okay.”

“I'm fine... but, hey. I was thinking of visiting his grave today. Maybe leave some flowers. Do you want to come with?”

She turned to him, daring to search his eyes, but he refused to return her gaze. In that moment, a pang of pity and sadness for her friend plunged into her chest, and she turned away before her eyes could prickle with tears.

“Of course,” she said shakily. Beside her, Suho lay back, stretching out to stare into the sky.

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

She lowered herself too, laying beside him. The sky was strikingly blue today, marred by only a handful of feathery clouds. Suddenly, she felt compelled to double-check with him. “But Suho, this doesn't change your mind, does it? About that thing we talked about?”

She eyed him worriedly until he broke into a wide smile. “Of course not.”

“You're sure?! I mean, I don't want to put you in a situation that you couldn't handle--”

“I'm sure,” he said firmly, turning his grin towards her. “A promise is a promise, and I'm a man of my word.”

She sighed in relief, leaning back down. “Thank you.”

“Four more nights or so, don't you think?”

She let a devious smile creep across her face. “Three. Three more. And then we go.”

She stared at the Sun, excitement coursing through her veins. Three more nights until the full moon. And she could hardly wait.

–