A warm sunny morning. In her short and a big tee, Solar had just finished cleaning the extra room in her apartment. After they have debuted as a soloist, the members of Mamamoo have moved out from their dorm to live separately. Even though Moonbyul visit her frequently, Solar wasn’t satisfied with it. She wished one day she and Moonbyul could live together. But for now, they must stay apart to not bring any unwanted attention.

 

The door-bell rang and Solar rush to open the door. A warm smile was waiting for her on the other side of the door. “Welcome”, Solar greeted Moonbyul with a puppy smile. Solar helped to carry the baggage of fruits and packet snacks Moonbyul bought. “You bought a lot of apples?”

 

Moonbyul nodded.

 

“But what is that?”, Solar asked gesturing to the big box Moonbyul was carrying under her arm.

 

“I spent some money.” Moonbyul kept the board game aside and sat down on the couch. Solar looked around but there was no luggage for Moonbyul’s clothes. Solar shockingly asked if Moonbyul had forgot to bring it. Moonbyul thought it would be fun to tease Solar, so she acted as if she forgot that she would stay with Solar.

 

Solar burst out, “How could you forget? Why did you even come here then?”

 

“Because- I. Miss you?”

 

The anger melted in a quick second but Solar tried to pretend she was still angry with Moonbyul. She pressured Moonbyul to go back and bring her stuffs. Solar wouldn’t let Moonbyul win in the pretend game. Moonbyul finally gave in and told Solar the truth. Her manager will drop her packed luggage by evening to Solar’s place.

 

“Are we sleeping in the same room?”, Moonbyul asked making a sly expression. Solar just want to smack Moonbyul on her head. How could she say something like that so easily? “We are not.” Solar pointed towards the vacant room, “If you don’t want to sleep there, then you can sleep on the couch.”

 

After ages, they get to cook home-made food together and eat together without everyone else. They talked and laughed as they had their meal. The laughter filled the kitchen and once or twice, Solar almost choked on the rice. Moonbyul gave her some water and slowly pat on her back to relieve. But then again, after she calm down, Solar would burst out laughing. She had such a contagious laughter that Moonbyul eventually laugh along.

 

They unboxed the board-game Moonbyul bought and every single round of game, Moonbyul won. Solar complained that Moonbyul was cheating. She knew Moonbyul was very competitive but she also loves to bicker with Moonbyul. “Let me win only once.” “Nope”, replied the other.

 

From bickering to rolling around on the floor, Moonbyul and Solar laid down on the fluffy white carpet. The room was silent with just the two of them and the evening sun rays peeping in from the window. No small talks nor any movement, just savoring the moment. Solar stared at the plain ceiling and spoke, “Can we stay like this forever?”

 

Moonbyul turned her head to gaze at Solar whose eyes were fixed to the ceiling.

 

 

>>>

 

 

“Thank you for coming all the way.” Moonbyul took the luggage from her manager.

 

“It’s alright. Make sure she is doing well instead. Take care.”

 

“Thank you. Go back safely.” Moonbyul shut the door close and moved the luggage to her room.

 

“Are you going to sleep here?”, Solar watched Moonbyul open her luggage bag as she leaned against the door. Moonbyul raised her brow and answered, “Of course. I don’t want to sleep on a couch.”

 

Solar stretched her lips wondering what’s even going on in this devil’s head. A while ago she wanted to sleep together. “Do you want to go out?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Since they were popular now, they could not go out in public as freely as they used to. If they do go out, they tend to hide their face or go to a least crowded place.

 

But Solar whine and begged Moonbyul until she finally agreed to go get some bread from Solar’s favorite bakery shop once the sun sets.

 

Solar stood before the dressing mirror, switching between a white and blue sweat-shirt over her chest. “Wear your hoodie.” Moonbyul pointed to the olive-green hoodie laying on Solar’s bed as she entered the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. Solar put down her sweat-shirts and picked up the hoodie to put it on.

 

Moonbyul was in her black hoodie with a black cap on. She tilted her head to the side, her eyes following Solar moving around in the room to get ready. Her gaze deepened when Solar pull out her baby pink lipstick and lean closer to the mirror to apply it. Moonbyul gulped in her own saliva, pursing her lips in sync to Solar’s lips. “I am done. Let’s go.”

 

Moonbyul quickly look away and stood up. “Bring your mask.”

 

Solar tried to hold in her smile as she saw it all from the mirror reflection.

 

 

The main street was lit up by the city lights. The night stores were packed in that windy night. The roadsides were filled with pedestrians and a group of boys were performing on the side. Moonbyul and Solar stood a little away from the crowd, enjoying the performance. No one recognized them with their heads fully covered. Solar bop her head along the rhythm. She turned to Moonbyul and Moonbyul moved her ear closer, “Their vocalist is good.”

 

Moonbyul nodded in agreement. However, she felt uneasy around so many people. She tightened her grip on Solar’s hand and put their hands in her hoodie’s pocket.

 

After the performance, they finally headed to the bakery store. Solar picked out two loaves of sandwich bread and brown bread. Moonbyul quietly tailed Solar who was looking around the displayed bakery products. The store was displaying their new cupcakes which caught Solar’s attention. Solar awed at the cute designs and bought a set of six with different flavors.

 

The lady at the counter packed it and hands it to Solar with a smile. “Please visit again.”

 

Solar bowed back to the lady and they walked out of the store. Moonbyul took the bag from Solar to carry it. On their way back, they entered a few clothing shops where they just wondered around, checking the women wears and leave the shop without buying any. That would make them crack up every time.

 

“Hey, let’s take a short cut.” Solar proposed.

 

So, they turned left to a lane and proceed further. There were hardly any people walking by and a few convenience stores were opened. “Should we buy something to drink?”, Solar asked to which Moonbyul replied, “Shall we?”

 

Moonbyul bought two bottles of apple juice and passed one to Solar. “How long do we have to walk?”

 

“Right turn there and we can see my apartment building.” Solar pointed to a rather dimly lit Y-junction.

 

“Why are there no proper streetlamps here?”, Moonbyul look around as they walked closer to the junction.

 

“I don’t know. Maybe because people don’t use this path often.”

 

Moonbyul was going to nod when she suddenly stopped as well as Solar. The atmosphere suddenly became tense and heavy. Moonbyul wanted to turn around but she was concerned for Solar. She could sense Solar’s fear slowly growing beside her. Solar clutched on the hull of Moonbyul’s hoodie. Solar was able to exhale the breath she was holding in when she felt Moonbyul’s warm hand on hers. Moonbyul slowly leaned and whispered, “Run as fast you could. Don’t look back.”

 

The Rus behind them moved and a gust of cold wind blew giving a cue for them to run. They took the right turn and ran as fast as they could. Moonbyul clasped Solar’s hands tightly as they run towards the way of their building. However, Solar could not keep up with Moonbyul’s speed and tumbled on the road. Moonbyul dragged her up and was about to run when the Rus launched an attack at them. Solar screamed in panic.

 

When she felt no pain, Solar opened her eyes to see a silver sword with the moon sign carved on the blade beside a pair of dark legs standing before her. Solar could not remember the last time she saw the silver sword. The figure she admires the most was standing in front of her but without the wings.

Both of them knew, Moonbyul has zero chance of taking down the Rus. They have been in the human world for so long that their powers have deteriorated. Moreover, Solar has lost her core and Moonbyul was a devil without wings. Even if Moonbyul have Solar’s core inside her, she could not guarantee their safety.

 

The Rus grunted and charged at them. Moonbyul tried defending but she was overpowered. She shouted at Solar to run away while she distracts the Rus. But Solar did not have the heart to leave Moonbyul to die. The only thing she could do now was to call for help. With all her strength, Solar screamed for help at the top of her lungs.

 

The Rus turned his pseudo-hand to a spindle shape and pointed it to Moonbyul who was injured on the ground.

 

The sharp spindle tip drilled towards Moonbyul’s pupil. Moonbyul eyes were wide open as death was on . Solar shut her eyes tightly not to witness a brutal death of her beloved.

.

.

 

 

“Meow~”, the surreal sound echoed across the dimly lit road.

And everything paused; freezing the devil, the angel and the soul eater in time.