Because I didn't want anyone to know what I had been up to, I waited a bit longer before I plan my short trip to the border again. It's all I do, think about it and when the time comes, go.

I made sure that no one would come bother me for a while. Remembering how the boy had practically scarfed the food down his throat last time, I look around my kitchen to see what other things I could bring.

There is still some chicken drumsticks, so I packed two. A baked potato is placed beside it in my basket. That was all, but I didn't want to overfeed him if he already ate.

Figuring that I'd be staying awake for a while, I took a nap, in the fortress of blankets that I built surrounding my bed. As I lay there, waiting for my slumber, a thought runs across my mind.

"My life is pretty uneventful."

This is probably the reason why I have curiosity constantly. I wanted something fun and perhaps adventurous. Yes, Yoongi and Hoseok are fun, but the only time I was able to explore was when I was a child. Then, nobody could stop me from delving into my colorful imaginations. Don't get me wrong, the way I live now is nice. It's incredibly peaceful.

I just want to experience something different than what I'm used to. Something that has never happened to me, and almost no one else, like secretly meeting someone I'm not supposed to even look at.

The bells ring and I groaned, rubbing my eyes. I didn't get a of sleep at all but that thought didn't bother me for too long. Putting on a black cloak, I leave my room instead. Even though there I'm all alone, I found myself tiptoeing as if someone will hear me. Before the ringing even ended, I was already standing at my door, picnic basket in one hand and book in the other.

I wait, until I hear no signs of anyone outside anymore. Taking a deep breath, I slip the dark hood over my head, covering the top of my face. As quiet as I could, I closed my door on my way out, making sure that it does not creak or click too loud.

Once I'm out, I clutch my basket and book against my chest anxiously in an attempt to muffle my loud, pounding heart.

As swiftly as I could, I ran with light footsteps. I found it strange how I am still paranoid even when almost everyone is asleep. Every once in a while, I'd look behind my shoulder, as if eyes were trailing after me. However, there is nothing each time I look back. The only thing behind me is the empty little roads with the occasional wind whistling by.

The green woods shielded me temporarily from the skies when I reached them. That's when I finally felt relaxed, feeling that now that I made it here, everything is okay.

From memory, I try to trace my way to the area where I met the boy. I turn to look at the tall night buildings, which still seems to loom over me despite being on the other side. All I had to do is picture the boy springing from them, one to another. I follow him once again, just like I had previously done, although the boy I see is only my imagination.

He disappears when the trees got too thick, and I couldn't see anything from the other side anymore. It was alright, because I'm sure I can manage my way from here on. Surely, it will not be far away.

The trickling of water catches my attention, to I let it lead the way. A few moments later, I recognized the place. Yes, this is where I was last time.

Quickly, my head whipped in all directions in search of the boy. My hopes were let down when there is no other person in sight. But I'm already here, and I will not simply leave just because the boy is not here at this moment.

I sit down, right by the stream, and stare into the dark side. To this day, I still wonder why I can't leave. I really do not think that I will be physically harmed from the surroundings of night.

Picking up a pebble, I tossed it over, seeing how it grow a couple shades darker when it flew into the other side, sinking into the water. I huff, feeling childishly jealous that a simple pebble could leave this place but I couldn't.

Out of boredom, I keep tossing pebbles and stones over, soon creating a small pile. I don't know how long I've been doing it, but when I pick up a particularly flat rock, I threw it with much more force, sending it pass the pile I made. It lands next to a bush and that's when I see a figure hiding behind it quickly.

It could only be one person, really. I wonder if he could be expecting me each time he comes here like me.

The boy didn't come out from his hiding spot. I didn't know if I wanted to say something yet; we've barely spoke last time. I go back to throwing pebbles. Maybe he'll peep out again.

When he didn't, I try throwing a pebble at the bush, a silent message to let him know that I'm aware of his presence. The pebble goes over the bush, but only a little, and I hear someone hiss. I brought my hand over my mouth when I realized what I had accidentally done.

But it did draw the boy out from behind the bush, his fluffy hair being the first thing to emerge. I feel guilty when I see that he's rubbing the top of his head, teeth clenched from the pain and eyes wincing.

"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, hoping that I didn't hurt him too severely. He looked kind of dazed though, and I wondered how a pebble the size of my thumbnail could hurt him that much. It must have been because I threw it too hard with force.

I let out a loud gasp when he falls on the ground, laying on his side. His body went limp and his eyes were shut. Only his dark hair is moving from the wind, revealing more of his face.

It was that moment that I saw the black eye he had and cut at the corner of his chapped lips. They were fresh injuries.

I cried out, horrified because I have killed him! I threw a rock at him and now he's dead! Scared, I began to scream for help, for anyone. I don't care if someone found me here. I wasn't going to leave this boy's body behind to rot.

"Help! Help-"

"Shhh! It's okay, it's okay!"

At this point, I was already on my feet, ready to run to get someone. But my cries were reduced to whimpers of confusion when I see the boy slowly getting up. 

"It's okay. I'm alright," he raises his hands to assure me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

I wiped my tears with my palms, blinking to clear my blurry vision. He was pretending?

The boy walks towards me until his feet stepped into the water. He looks around him, finding a stone big enough for him to sit on. Then his stern eyes look at me.

I wasn't completely over what happened yet, but my body sat on another rock in the stream with him. The cool water rushing at my feet calmed me, but I still didn't understand why the boy did what he did.

"You didn't die?" I asked. It was supposed to be something more subtle, but I was still weary from the shock. I cover my mouth again, but the boy laughs.

It sounded quite pleasant.

The boy has both set of teeth, top and bottom, showing and his eyes had an extra shine to them. His deep voice made his laughter gentle, but it was very youthful despite being pretty low.

"No, I did not die. It was only pretend," he says, smile still spread on his face. I couldn't help but stare at the cut by his lip. Doesn't it hurt him to be smiling like that?

"Why would you believe it? It was only a small pebble," he said, using his thumb and index finger to show the approximate size. "Only this big."

I scratch my neck, feeling slightly embarrassed because he is correct. "I am not used to these type of situations. Actually, I have never seen anyone die with my own eyes. Besides," I point to my eye, "You're hurt."

The boy copies me, finger going up to touch his black eye. "Oh. This? It wasn't from you."

My eyes widen. If it wasn't from me, did he hurt himself from an accident? Or worse, could it be someone else that did that to him? Before I could ask him anything else, he grins, nodding at my picnic basket.

"What do you have there?"

I went to get the basket, checking to make sure that everything was still there before returning to sit in the stream with him. Like before, his eyes were eager, and I could see his mouth water. I open the basket, tilting it a little to let him see without spilling anything. "See for yourself."

He leaned forward a bit, peering into it before he shouts in excitement, "Woah! Chicken!" His thin arms stretch out to take the basket but I yelled at him. 

"Stop!"

My raised voice stopped his hands. His fingertips were dangerously close to touching the invisible wall between us. I realized that I may have shouted too loud, but I was just afraid of what would happen if he's exposed to this side.

"You've got to be more careful," I said in a gentler tone. "Here."

I handed the basket over, holding half of it as the other half enters the night side. The boy followed my instruction, carefully and hesitantly taking hold the basket.

Now we're both holding it, and I looked up to see his face. He looked up too, and when our eyes met, my hands tingled, making me let go suddenly.

I think I may have confused him a bit with that, but he seemed to brush it off and opens the basket. The first thing he takes out is a drumstick. I expected him to wolf it down, but he smiles at me before taking a bite. He made sure to take his time, swallowing before biting off another chunk. I giggled; he probably didn't want to make the same mistake of choking like last time.

While he ate, I didn't want to stare at him, so I go back to my book. Taking out a pen, I turn to the next blank page, satisfied with the small rustling sounds as I turned the beige pages.

I didn't feel like writing, documenting about today, so I sketched. The tall buildings still intrigued me, so I drew those as best as I could. They were dark, seemingly made of the same material. None were of wood though, it seemed like a type of stone, or something hard. They were around the same height, with some being slightly higher and lower, but they all looked almost identical. All windowless and... I wonder if there's only one door or more per building. For now, I only drew one.

There is a gap between each building and I got a little idea. Looking at the boy, who is still very busy greasing up his hands, mouth, and a bit of his cheeks, I laughed quietly. I examined his body before doing my best to copy it down onto the paper. I left it as an outline only, just like how I saw it. His entire body is shaded, to indicate how mysterious he was when I first saw him.

When finished, I held it up to look at the whole picture. The boy, in the middle of jumping from one building to another. Even now, it's still so fascinating to know how he could do that. Is he ever scared to have the ground so far below him?

I lower the book, seeing that the boy is just finishing up the potato. 'The boy...' that's all I've been calling him.

Closing the book, I go back into the water. He's now rinsing his hands in the stream, occasionally cupping some water in his hands to wash his face too, as well as to drink it.

He made a face, wiping the corner of his mouth. His cut started to bleed a little, and I immediately took out my handkerchief from my back pocket.

"Use this," I said, and passed it over. "Put some pressure on it."

"Thank you," he said in return. "For the meal too. Did you buy it from somewhere?"

"No, I made it," I answered. "Hopefully you liked it."

"It's wonderful!" He complimented, rubbing his belly. "I haven't had meat in so long! How did you even manage to get two chicken drumsticks?"

I was puzzled. What was he talking about? "There's more than two drumsticks at home. It's part of the weekly rations for each house. I could get more whenever I want to if I ever run out. There's food for everyone."

Despite my explanation, the boy stared at me in disbelief. Was it different in night?

"If there's so much food," the boy swallows, probably salivating again. "Could you bring more for me next time?"

Next time? There's going to be a next time? I felt happy already from that. "Of course. I live by myself anyway, so there's always a lot, sometimes too much for me anyway."

I smile at him, still delighted to have a reason to come back. He did the same, except this time, he smiled as much as he could with the handkerchief on part of his lips. He looked at the ground though, almost... shyly?

"By the way, what is your name?" I finally asked. I would prefer to refer him by his name rather than only a boy.

He removes the handkerchief, which now had a small red stain. "Taehyung."

"What's your surname?"

"What do you mean?"

I tilt my head, not understanding how he doesn't know what I meant. "Well, my name is Seokjin, and my surname is Kim. Kim Seokjin."

The boy, Taehyung, looked away. "I'm just Taehyung."

"What's the name of your family then?"

He furrows his brows. "I don't... I don't have a family. You're not suppose to... have one..." The way he said the last part sounded like a question. He seemed confused, and so was I.

Maybe I can ask about something else, because from the looks of it, I don't have much knowledge of how life is in the night. So I talked about myself.

"I haven't seen my family in a while. Luckily, I have my best friends to keep me company," I said while thinking of the two people sleeping right at this moment, unaware of what he's doing.

Taehyung lit up, thankfully. "I have best friends too! They're working right now."

I look at the direction of the buildings. Is that where labor took place? I turn back to Taehyung, "Do you work too?"

A sheepish smile grew on his face. "I do... I'm suppose to be working right now, actually." He dips the handkerchief in the water, scrubbing it to wash the blood away. "But I wanted to see if you came. And you did, so it's worth it."

"Um..." I was afraid that I'll be getting him into trouble. "Maybe... you should go."

Taehyung stopped momentarily before nodding. "I guess you're right. I haven't been gone this long and my supervisor is probably wondering where I am." He gives me my handkerchief and empty basket.

"I can see you next time," I say, wringing the water out from the white cloth before tossing it in the picnic basket. "I want to know you more."

"Me too," he replied and stands up. "Because I work at this time, maybe we can meet up when it's time to sleep. That way, there will be a less chance of me being caught. Okay?"

It took me a while to interpret that then apply it to my terms. Day people are sleeping right now, so he probably wants me to come when night people are asleep. I remember when he got caught by a night knight.

"Sounds good to me," but even as I said that, I got a bit nervous because that means I'll have to get better at my sneaking skills. "And I'll make sure to bring more food."

Taehyung beamed at me. "Make that a promise."

"I promise."

Taehyung seemed satisfied, so he starts to walk back. "I guess I have to go now. But I'll see you again."

I sigh, but it's dreamy, not of disappointment at all. I wave even though his back is already turned to me. Just as I was going to leave too, Taehyung stops. He's way farther now but he turned back and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting.

"Bye, Seokjin! Kim Seokjin!"

Again, I waved back, looking forward to meeting him soon.

I walked home, hiding here and there behind buildings and trees whenever any knights are around. I'm still surprised almost no one is supervising the border. If I'm being honest, that didn't bother me and only made my life easier.

Once I'm in the safety of my home, I head up to my bedroom. I sit as my desk, setting my notebook down and flipping through the pages until I got to the most recent one. A smile automatically appeared on my face as my fingers skim across the page.

I stood up, going over to my window. The curtains are moved apart, letting me see the view outside. It's beautiful, like always, overlooking the cozy homes of many and green hills that I love so much. Today though, I only gave the view a quick glance, paying most of my attention to the dark blue sky way in the distance. Although it's far away, I could make out the sparkling dots in the sky.

Heading back to bed, I paused at my desk to do one last thing. I turned the page of my drawing to the back of it, which is still blank. Getting a pen, I wrote neatly on the back:

Taehyung of the Night

~~

The sweet scent of apple pie fills my kitchen. It smells so delicious, I had to resist the urge to devour it. All of the apples had been freshly picked by me, and that only makes it better.

I've got a good amount of sleep, resting peacefully without any disturbance and finally felt normal again. But I promised Taehyung that I would go see him soon, and the bells have already rung many times now, so it's been a while.

Not wanting to get caught, I've got to make sure that my trips to the border are never consistent, never part of my routine. I figured Taehyung will come check and if I'm not there, he'd go back home.

It's about time now, so I hold the two pies in a bag. The scent is still strong and people along the way glanced at my bag. Including...

"Seokjin!"

Hoseok excitedly jumps on me, wrapping both arms over my shoulder from behind. You would think that I have already gotten used to his cheery personality but it still takes me by surprise sometimes.

"What are you up to?"

I stare at my bag, which had slipped out of my hand but is still fine. "I just finished baking apple pie."

"Really? I want some!" He exclaims but pipes down. "But you baked them, so you do whatever you want with them."

Not wanting my friend to suspect me of anything, I quickly offered, "Actually, I was just about to send these to you."

Even though everyone living here is very friendly, the only people I really know by heart is just Hoseok and Yoongi. It would stand out if I became close to another person, which is fine and not problematic at all, only if the person is not from night.

Hoseok looked ecstatic as I gave him one of the apple pies. I guess it was good that I made more than one. However, I did feel a bit sad that I didn't bring a bountiful amount of other sweets.

"Make sure to share with Yoongi," I said while I continued to walk, Hoseok tagging along.

"Where are you headed with the other pie?" He asks.

Creating an excuse at the top of my head, I blurted, "I'm going to be eating it by myself in the library."

Hoseok and Yoongi aren't that fond of the place, so the chances of them ever going there will be low. Books just weren't there thing.

"The librarian allows food in there?"

My foot tripped in the slightest bit, but I don't think anyone noticed. "Uh, no. I meant to say that I was going to eat it after going to the library."

"Mind if Yoongi and I join you later?"

I stopped in my tracks, turning to look at him. By now, I was getting nervous. I'm already guilty of going to the border, and it's worse that I talked to a civilian there too. "Is there something important we need to discuss? I'm pretty busy."

My friend seemed to be taken aback, scratching the back of his ear. "O-Oh. No, there's nothing urgent. I'm extremely sorry, I didn't know you would be busy."

"Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong anyway," I placed a hand on his shoulder after seeing that he really wasn't himself right now. "Are you alright? If there's something we need to talk about, we can."

Hoseok was quick to brush me off. "Nothing is wrong. It's just..." He stares at me for a moment. "I haven't seen you for a while. Yoongi said that he hadn't spoke to you since the other time. When you're not busy, can you drop by maybe? Let's hang out again, all three of us."

My shoulders instantly dropped in relief. I thought that Hoseok could have been bothered by something. I smiled at him, "Sure. And when we do, you guys can choose where to go."

"Thank you!" He says exaggeratedly. "We always go to that hill you like, and you know how much Yoongi hates walking to the top of it."

He and I laughed together, then when it died down, he looked at my pie in his hands. "You know what? Thanks for the pie, but you looked like you lost some weight. Is it because you're still having trouble sleeping?"

I shook my head, "It's been getting better. You're always so concerned about me, Hobi. Make sure you take care of yourself too."

He smiled widely at me, "We got to look after each other, you know."

~~

I felt bad about going against my friends' words, because I'm here again, waiting for Taehyung. Fortunately, no one saw me coming, I think. No one came to stop me, even now, so that's a good sign.

I didn't wait long, and stood up from my usual spot in the stream. Taehyung is sprinting his way over, getting really excited when I took out the apple pies. I held them high for him to see.

"Taehyung! I brought apple pies!"

His smile grew and his legs moved faster. I can't stop my smile as I watch him come closer and closer. He's so nice and I realized how easy it was for me to talk to him. We're still new to each other yet I don't feel like I don't know what to do when he's here.

Taehyung slows down, only to dip his bare feet into the water, then slosh his way to me.

"Apple-"

He exclaims as he fell, maybe from a rock or branch in the water. On instinct, I balanced the pies in one hand and with the other, caught his arm. Taehyung is already soaked from his pants and down, but I pulled him up.

"Careful. You didn't hurt your feet?" I asked, looking at his feet, which is blurred by the rushing water.

Taehyung groaned, and I set the pies down somewhere stable to take his other hand, helping him stabilize himself. He opened his mouth to say something but it froze, leaving him with his jaw dropped.

It is then that I realized how tense he got. I could tell because I am holding his arm.

Oh god...

I'm holding Taehyung's hand.